Defending Internet Freedom at ORGCon2013

ORGCon 2013
Saturday June 8th, 10.00am – 5.30pm,
Institute of Engineering and Technology, Savoy Place, London
From the attacks in Woolwich, to the murder of April Jones, politicians are quick to use the latest tragic news stories to grab attention or score political points. Often this leads to unthinking calls to restrict our freedoms online, whether it is through blocking websites or more surveillance. Open Rights Group (ORG) is on the front line responding to these proposals.

Every year ORG runs the UK’s only digital freedoms conference, ORGCon, which draws together policy makers, activists and academics to tackle the biggest questions in technology policy. This year we’ll be debating everything from the Snoopers’ Charter and the digital arms trade to online censorship.

Top experts on civil liberties, human rights and technology policy experts will be available for interview on these issues, including founders of the digital rights movement such as John Perry Barlow and Tim Wu.

We’ll be asking some of the difficult questions about child protection online at ORGCon2013:Professor Andy Phippen, professor of Social Responsibility in IT, will be presenting a lecture about the best ways to help children as they grow up with the Internet. Child Rights International Network (CRIN) will also be giving a talk, speaking on the child’s right to information, a voice that is often forgotten in the midst of these filtering debates.
The call for a revival of the Snoopers’ Charter, following the Woolwich attack, will be the first session of the day. Julian Huppert MP, a member of the Joint Committee scrutinising the Bill, and authors from ORG’s Digital Surveillance report will look at why the Snoopers’ Charter gets it wrong and what the alternatives are: targeted and accountable investigatory powers for UK police.
The parallel session on the “Digital Arms Trade” features Reporters without Borders, Bits of Freedom and Privacy International talking about the danger of legislation like the Snoopers’ Charter to world freedom. They will be informing the audience how the current trade in surveillance technologies between nations is a real threat to the international free press and to the safety of activists world-wide, and their work fighting it.
Amongst the many other debates, we’ll also be discussing the new copyright and orphan works law with the Intellectual Property Office; the EU’s proposed Data Protection Regulation with the Information Commissioner’s Office; and free speech online with Facebook and renowned legal expert David Allen Green.
Further event details at: 
https://orgcon.openrightsgroup.org
PRESS CONTACT: 
Jim Killock, Executive Director
press@openrightsgroup.org.
Tel: +44 20 7096 1079
Speakers are available for interview at ORGCon.
 
Press passes available: 
contact orgcon@openrightsgroup.org