| Name | Open Rights Group |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | ORG |
| Formation | 2005, UK |
| Type | Non-profit organization |
| Purpose | Law, Advocacy, Digital Rights |
| Headquarters | London, England |
| Location | United Kingdom |
| Num staff | 4 |
| Website | www.openrightsgroup.org |
The group was honoured in the 2008 Privacy International Big Brother Awards alongside No2ID, Liberty, Genewatch UK and others, as a recognition of their efforts to keep state and corporate mass surveillance at bay.
In 2010 the group worked with 38 Degrees to oppose the introduction of the Digital Economy Act, which was passed in April 2010.
Former staff include Suw Charman-Anderson and Becky Hogge, both Executive Directors, e-voting coordinator Jason Kitcat, grassroots campaigner Katie Sutton and administrator Katerina Maniadaki. The group's patron is Neil Gaiman.
Category:Computer law Category:Copyright law Category:Digital media Category:Digital rights management Category:Internet in the United Kingdom Category:Internet privacy Category:Intellectual property activism Category:Politics and technology Category:Politics of the United Kingdom Category:Privacy organizations Category:Organizations established in 2005 Category:Public domain Category:Radio-frequency identification Category:Political pressure groups of the United Kingdom Category:Civil liberties advocacy groups Category:Intellectual property organizations Category:Election and voting-related organizations Category:Access to Knowledge movement Category:Internet activism
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| Name | Mark Thomas |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Mark Clifford Thomas |
| Birth date | April 11, 1963 |
| Birth place | London, England, UK |
| Residence | London, England, UK |
| Known for | Political activism |
| Employer | New Statesman |
| Occupation | ComedianPresenterReporterColumnist |
| Spouse | Married |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | MarkThomasInfo.com |
Mark Clifford Thomas (born 11 April 1963) is an English comedian, presenter, political activist and reporter from south London. He first became known as a guest comic on the BBC Radio 1 comedy show The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s. He is best known for political stunts on his show, The Mark Thomas Comedy Product on Channel 4. Thomas describes himself as a "libertarian anarchist." (his total earnings writing for the magazine to that point). Despite playing a prank on him on the first episode of The Mark Thomas Comedy Product he appeared on a platform with controversial left-wing MP George Galloway in the "Troops out, no Trident" demonstration on the 24 February 2007. Mark is an atheist. Interviewed for the Daily Telegraph, Mark said "I've been an atheist since the age of eight. A visiting pastor at church performed a magic trick that ended with him tapping a chalice and it filling with coins. I asked him how he did it and he said, 'All you need is faith,' When I got home I rushed down to the cellar and found an old Half Corona tin and a stick from my dad's wood box (he was a self-employed builder). I sat there for an hour and left an atheist." Thomas believes that everybody's wages should be made public. As of 2010 he earns about £100k a year. In February 2009 British entertainers David Baddiel, Bill Bailey, Morwenna Banks, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Jo Brand, Russell Brand, Rob Brydon, Jimmy Carr, Jack Dee, Omid Djalili, Sean Lock, Lee Mack, Alexei Sayle, Meera Syal, Mark Thomas said in an open letter printed in The Times newspaper of the Bahá'í leaders to be on trial in Iran: "In reality, their only “crime”, which the current regime finds intolerable, is that they hold a religious belief that is different from the majority…. we register our solidarity with all those in Iran who are being persecuted for promoting the best development of society …(and) with the governments, human rights organisations and people of goodwill throughout the world who have so far raised their voices calling for a fair trial, if not the complete release of the Baha’i leaders in Iran." Echoing the comments earlier in the month made by two hundred and sixty seven non-Bahá'í Iranian academics, writers, artists, journalists and activists from some 21 countries including Iran who signed an open letter of apology posted to Iranian.com and stating they were "ashamed" and pledging their support in Bahá'ís achieving the rights detailed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for the Bahá'ís in Iran. See Persecution of Bahá'ís.
On 14 April 2009, a video was released on YouTube in which Mark officially endorsed the Green Party.
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| Name | Cory Doctorow |
|---|---|
| Caption | Cory Doctorow in September 2009 |
| Birthdate | July 17, 1971 |
| Birthplace | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation | author, blogger |
| Genre | Science fiction, postcyberpunk |
| Notableworks | Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Little Brother |
| Spouse | Alice Taylor |
| Children | Poesy Emmeline Fibonacci Nautilus Taylor Doctorow |
| Awards | John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, John W. Campbell Memorial Award, Prometheus Award, Sunburst Award |
| Website | http://www.craphound.com/ |
Cory Doctorow (; born July 17, 1971) is a Canadian blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organisation, using some of their licences for his books. Some common themes of his work include digital rights management, file sharing, and post-scarcity economics.
Doctorow moved to London and worked as European Affairs Coordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation for four years, helping to set up the Open Rights Group, before quitting to pursue writing full-time in January 2006. Upon his departure, Doctorow was named a Fellow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
He was named the 2006-2007 Canadian Fulbright Chair in Public Diplomacy at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, jointly sponsored by the Royal Fulbright Commission,
Category:Canadian science fiction writers Category:Canadian bloggers Category:Canadian Jews Category:Canadian podcasters Category:Canadian technology writers Category:Transhumanists Category:People from Toronto Category:Copyright activists Category:Science fiction fans Category:Wired (magazine) people Category:University of Southern California faculty Category:Cyberpunk writers Doctorow Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian Internet personalities Category:Fulbright Scholars Category:Clarion Writers' Workshop
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
