The Open Rights Group is seeking to recruit a part-time campaigner to assist its two current full-time staff members in raising awareness in the UK and Europe of issues related to copyright and copyright infringement. The position would suit an experienced campaigner or lobbyist, ideally one with an interest in the topics of privacy and copyright reform.

In the UK and Europe new proposals are threatening citizens’ rights to access their cultural heritage and participate fully in the digital age. From threats to disconnect internet users suspected of violating copyright protections, to copyright term extension, it is vital that the interests of ordinary citizens and consumers – and not just the interests of the content industries - are represented at national and regional level.

The Open Rights Group

The Open Rights Group (ORG) is a grassroots technology organisation which exists to protect civil liberties and consumer rights wherever they are threatened by the poor implementation and regulation of digital technology. We call these rights our “digital rights”.

The response to the opportunities posed by new technology has often been marred by ignorance and overreaction. The civil liberties as well as the technological and creative opportunities of future generations are at risk when the impact of technology is poorly understood by decision-makers. Protecting and promoting digital rights involves defending innovation, defending consumer rights, and most importantly of all, defending individual human rights, as they will be in our new, networked age.

ORG takes an evidence-based approach to its advocacy work, mixing “inside track” lobbying with grassroots engagement and targeted media work. We believe this approach serves to make legislators fully aware of the concerns of citizens and consumers at times when they can practically act upon them, and in a media environment where not so acting is not an option. Witness to this is our success in turning around the UK election regulator’s view on the maturity of electronic voting technology in 2007, and our contribution to the UK Government’s decision to reject a copyright term extension in sound recordings in 2006.

ORG aims to be an organisation that is sustained by the people it represents. We now have just over 700 paying supporters, each of whom contribute £5/month to ORG’s running costs. ORG also attracts small and medium-sized grants from grant-giving organisations for campaign-specific work.

The issues

The successful candidate will work on two separate issues - copyright term extension for sound recordings, and ISP liability for copyright infringement.

Copyright Term Extension: Copyright term extension threatens the public domain and supports the consolidation of gatekeepers around our cultural heritage. This serves to limit access to the building blocks of creativity at the very time when digital technologies promise to democratise the tools of creativity. The Open Rights Group is against copyright term extension. The recording industry has been lobbying for copyright term extension in sound recordings for many years. In the UK, the Government commissioned an independent study to examine whether term extension was a good idea for the UK creative economy. The review found that all the evidence pointed against extending term, and based on this, the UK government rejected the recording industry’s call for an extension.

Now the recording industry has taken its fight to Europe, and it looks like they’re getting somewhere. Commissioner Charlie McCreevy announced in February that he intends to extend the copyright term in sound recordings from 50 to 95 years. However, the Commissioner’s own Internal Market Directorate have published evidence that shows that the arguments in favour of extending term lacked substance, especially compared to the reasons for maintaining the status quo.

ISP liability: Rightsholder lobby groups have successfully demonised illicit sharing of copyrighted materials across peer-to-peer networks, equating it to commercial counterfeiting operations and demanding action from legislators. In fact, this sort of activity has a non-trivial relationship to the amount of income recording artists can gain from their trade, through legitimate sales, concert tickets and other income streams. Further, we believe that recorded music industry intermediaries (labels, collecting societies) should view peer-to-peer filesharers not as criminals, but as a potential market that it is their job to work out how to exploit – for example through licensing deals.

In the UK, recommendation 39 from the Gowers Review of IP has encouraged ISPs and rightsholder groups to cooperate in order to “tackle” illicit filesharing. The Government has now signalled its intention to legislate by April 2009 should these negotiations yield no outcome. ORG has demanded that these voluntary negotiations include a consumer voice, with some success. We also intend to respond to a consultation, planned by Government for May 2008, advocating for no regulation from government. Our arguments will be twofold: graduated response or the “three strikes and you’re out” approach will not work, as p2p has demonstrated that it will innovate to circumvent any enforcement measure; disconnection from the internet for illicit filesharing is wildly disproportionate. During the French presidency of the EU, “3 strikes” may be catapulted to the European level, despite the fact that the European Parliament has recently signalled that it is unwilling to consider such a disproportionate response.

Your role

As part of ORG’s campaigning team, your work would be to support and extend ORG’s work. As the ORG campaign develops, we will expect you to take a leading role in advocacy work around the two issue areas above.

Such work would involve:

• Mapping the proposals’ likely progression through the legislative process at national and regional level
• Identifying and engaging with potential allies at national and regional level
• Developing viral media to explain and spread the word about the issues
• Maintaining and enriching the joint ORG / EFF website against copyright term extension, soundcopyright.eu
• Using existing data and contacts to develop a network of activists from other EU countries able to take forward pan-European campaigns
• Developing/commissioning case studies and briefing papers for the media, for MEPs and other stakeholders
• Developing campaign packs for activists, including tools for debate
• Liaising with the national and regional press
• Managing a campaign budget

We have resources to invest in training for the right candidate. The position would be based in our central London offices, however, we would consider remote working arrangements for the right candidate so long as she or he were able to come to London 3-4 times per month. The role will involve international travel. Administrative support would be provided by Michael Holloway, ORG’s Operations Manager. The role would report to Becky Hogge, ORG’s Executive Director. ORG benefits from an active community of smart, dedicated and tech-savvy volunteers who offer support such as building websites and doing essential research and media monitoring. Staff members can also call upon the resources of an involved and experienced Board, as well as an Advisory Council of experts in technology, law, and the internet.

The role is initially offered on a one year fixed-term contract basis, since it is tied to campaign-based grant funding. However, for the right candidate, ORG would actively pursue sustainable funding in order to extend the role into a permanent one.

The right candidate

The role requires a self-starter, someone who can set their own goals, delegate and prioritise and who has the ability to initiate and successfully execute projects. The ideal candidate would be able to demonstrate:

• Campaigning or lobbying experience at a national European level
• An interest in and understanding of digital rights issues such as privacy, freedom of expression and copyright reform in the digital age
• Strong communication skills and a good writing style
• Fluent English, and a working knowledge of one or more other European languages
• Familiarity with blogs, wikis and other e-engagement tools
• The ability to work as part of a close-knit team

We are ready to consider applications from candidates who do not meet all these criteria!

Terms

• 1 year, fixed-term contract (part time)
• 2-3 days per week
• Salary negotiable

How to Apply

Please send a CV and covering letter in .pdf format to michael [AT] openrightsgroup.org by midnight on Sunday 11 May. Interviews will take place in Central London in the period 14-16 May.