Among the voices campaigning for a web/internet fit for people is Sir Tim Berners Lee, the inventor of the world wide web. In this Guardian article here his fears that government’s surveillance and corporations desire to shape traffic for commercial benefit will threaten the interests of the people of this planet. …
in which I attend the launch of ‘A Copyright Masquerade’
Monica Horten has a new book, and I went over to the LSE to attend a panel session entitled “Copyright and Freedoms in a Digital Europe: Liability of Intermediaries” to launch it, or boost it. The book’s called A Copyright Masquerade: How Corporate Lobbying Threatens Online Freedoms. The panel was chaired by Anne Barron of the LSE , and was attended by Jeff Taylor (BPI), Nick Lansman (ISPA). …
Not exactly tanks on the lawn
The BBC, in response to the Government created funding crisis have decided to terminate BBC3 as a broadcast service. Since they seem to plan to keep releasing the programs via iplayer, I am not sure how it’ll save money. They will also have annoyed powerful enemies with friends in government by their plans to maintain BBC3 as an online, i.e. iplayer service. The Guardian in their review of the announcement look at the economics and repeat the market research that many of BBC3’s fans and consumers are online anyway. Let’s hope this is a deliberate strategy to meet the government’s cost reduction targets while defending their news reporting and establishing a right to publish digitally and on-line, since the latter policies are contentious within the politics of media regulation. …
Contributing to a fairer European Copyright law
I have today submitted evidence to the EU’s Copyright Consultation. I used http://copywrongs.eu/ to help me, they filter the questions for you, and I wrote about exceptions (we, especially in the UK, need more) , clarity and derived works (again arguing for more), the balance of rights between copyright holders and citizens (more rights for citizens) and the appropriateness of old laws and concepts to the digital age (they aren’t). …
Digital Liberty, Labour’s Policy?
I have today, posted a submission to Labour’s YourBritain site, arguing for the Labour Party to support the EDRi’s charter of digital rights. I repeat my categorisation of the charter as supporting citizenship activism, defending privacy from corporate and state surveillance, promoting equality before the law and seeking to ensure a democratically regulated internet. I suggest that this builds on two of the last Labour Government’s greatest democratic reforms, the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and the Human Rights Act (HRA). I conclude with the proposal that the Labour Party supports the Charter for the European Parliamentary elections and the general election in 2015. …
A digital manifesto for Europe
Perhaps it really is the day we fight back, since the EDRi, the European umbrella digital liberty organisation has over the last couiple of days just launched its manifesto for the European Parliament elections. They have published their manifesto on a pseudo trading site where voters and politicians can pledge their votes and promises in public around the EDRi’s charter which consists of the following 10 points. …
The day we fight back
I have just spent the evening at the London #Cryptoparty, called on #thedaywefightback. The night was originally planned as an ORG planned Cryptoparty, an un-seminar on how to use your computer and the internet safely and minimize your chances of being spied upon, but the campaign, “Don’t Spy On Us” has been launched by English Pen, the Open Rights Group, Liberty, Article 19, Privacy International and Big Brother Watch. The campaign watchword is their 1st principle, “No surveillance without suspicion”. …
Labour & Rent Controls
A glimmer of hope, as Sadiq Kahn, Labour’s Shadow Minister for London argues for rent controls as part of Labour’s Manifesto, at the Fabian Society New Year conference; he sparks a debate with powerful allies and opponents.
Labour Party Reform, and the final word is
The Collins report on Labour Party Reform s published via Labour List, the report itself is hosted on Scribd, and I now mirror it on my Google Drive. …
The end of the road from Falkirk
The final findings of the Collins Review into Labour Party Reform have been leaking into the public domain over the last few days, I originally felt it best to have my say on Storify, The story is now available here, see below.