Happy-snappers unite! We need as many people as possible to take photos of stuff that embodies the database state, and the UK’s world-famous surveillance society (wake up! You’ve just walked into it).
On 11 October, No2ID and the Open Rights Group will make a live collage of the images you’ve taken in a prominent location in [...]

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Will consumer pressure for a safer net mean the end of open platforms and rapid innovation? And should the geeks who “get” the net care if the rest of the world prefer TiVos and iPhones?
On Wednesday of this week we co-hosted an event at the British Computer Society to discuss the problems raised by Jonathan [...]

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It’s that special time of year again, when we let the ones we love know how we feel about them. Here at ORG towers, we’d like to dedicate this Valentine’s Day to the recording industry. They may not always get it right, but good relationships are about listening, and about giving credit where it’s due. [...]

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Yesterday, BBC Director General Mark Thompson and other BBC representatives appeared in front of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. During the meeting, Dr John Pugh MP tackled him about the iPlayer. You can watch the full Public Accounts Committee meeting here (the talk of iPlayer starts about 10 minutes in).
During the meeting [...]

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I’ve just got back from the British Library, for the launch of a consultation into some of the changes to copyright law proposed by the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property. Those with long memories will recall that Andrew Gowers made several recommendations under the heading of “flexibility”, with the intention of crafting the current law [...]

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A year ago today, the Gowers Review was released to the public. The Government accepted all of the 54 recommendations it made, and experts welcomed the balanced approach it took to intellectual property law in the digital age, since it matched greater flexibility with tougher measures on enforcement (although at the time, we flagged its [...]

Read the rest of "Happy birthday Gowers - but where are our reforms?"

My interview with Sean Daly at Groklaw went online this morning:
Q: Now, let’s talk about DRM for a moment. It seems that the current situation the BBC finds itself in with the iPlayer is largely due to the choice to use DRM. My understanding is that without DRM, the rights holders of third-party producers of [...]

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Yesterday, the BBC announced that a cross-platform “streamed” version of its on-demand service the iPlayer would be available by the end of the year. According to this report from BBC News Online:
“At the end of the year users of Windows, Mac or Linux machines will be able to watch streamed versions of their favourite TV [...]

Read the rest of "BBC U-turn: Full iPlayer service may never be available to Mac and Linux Users"

On Tuesday, John Pugh MP led an adjournment debate on IT software procurement, where he accused the UK government of excluding Linux and Mac Users from government services such as the Department of Work and Pensions online benefits system.
“The Government are spending public money, and in doing so, it is difficult to see how they [...]

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…And it’s pretty lacklustre. Over 16,000 people signed the petition, demanding that the BBC stop excluding license fee payers who don’t have computers running Microsoft software from its new on demand TV service. But Number Ten are apparently satisfied with the BBC Trust’s commitment that the iPlayer would be cross-platform “as soon as possible”, and [...]

Read the rest of "Number 10 responds to iPlayer petition…"