28 November, 2005
The Open Rights Group
The Open Rights Group is an organisation recently created to fill roughly the same role in the UK as the Electronic Frontier Foundation does in America.
That is, trying to look after our digital rights.
Why? Because we can't all be experts. We can't all watch the processes of the world in enough detail to see where our rights are being eroded. They're there to try and make sure that there is someone to balance the influence of businesses, to make sure that there is someone the press can talk to that isn't giving a company line calculated to increase profits or market share. They want to keep us all informed and generally be "the good guys".
But they need money.
Earlier in the year, they asked for people to pledge 5 quid a month, to be paid only if 1000 other people also made the pledge.
If you can spare a fiver a month, go and make the pledge. Think of it as a Christmas present to the whole country.
Of course, even though I think it's a good idea, I'll be watching them carefully once they start having my money.