ORG Law Fund: Nearly there!

Across November we’ve been running our ORG Law Fund campaign to gain 150 new supporters – enough to fund a part-time Legal Officer for ORG. We took on our first legal case this morning and hope that this is one of many to come, with a legal expert in-house to guide our policies and provide knowledge of the courts and proceedings to ensure we are effective in defending your digital rights. Please read more about what the new position will do here.

We’ve nearly got enough to make it: We now have  the equivalent of 122 members

Thank you to the generous supporters who have been giving double what we ask for. We wouldn’t be able to do the work we do without the support of people like you.

Please help us reach our goal and get to 150 by Christmas. We just need thirty new supporters to make it!

You can help us change the internet, set legal precedents now and frame the conversation regarding regulating the internet for the future.

There are more and more victims, like Paul Chambers, being arrested for free speech on social media. BPI are increasing the number of web blocking injunctions with insufficient transparency about what will be blocked. GoldenEye still wish to gain personal details relating to thousands of IP addresses because of alleged copyright infringement.  

All of these cases could just as easily be you – arrested for a joke on Facebook, finding your website blocked or your personal details blindly handed over to private companies by your ISP. Joining today allows us to stand up for your rights, enabling us to offer pro bono advice when these situations occur.

As part of the campaign I interviewed a number of ORG supporters,  illuminating all the different reasons people get involved with ORG – and the eclectic range of issues we deal with. They had some great things to say about what they think are the key issues for digital rights and how they first got involved. It was a particular honour to hear these words spoken by such different people when I asked them why they supported ORG:

• Neil Gaiman spoke strongly about how ORG stand up for creators’ rights against monolithic laws

• Becky Hogge talked about ORG representing the public interest in the copyright debate

• Cory Doctorow was worried about computers becoming snitches rather than father confessors – and thought ORG protecting us from all that was amazing

• Ben Hammersley’s key concern was that people realise that the internet is for everyone and thus everyone should be concerned about the threats to digital rights that ORG campaign on.

Although our Advisory Council members all have different backgrounds and passions they all felt that ORG do so much for the whole country, with our technical expertise and rational vision for the future that, for £5 a month, supporting ORG is a bargain and a wise choice.

This month there are even more reasons to become a member of ORG. It was wonderful to be awarded the Human Rights Campaigner of the Year Award by Liberty in recognition for our work on the Snoopers’ Charter. We’ve take on our first legal case, we’re organising a mass MP lobby day for next week and are building a national campaign against the Communications Data Bill.

With an in-house legal expert able to offer advice, co-ordinate our lawyers and take on new projects ORG will be able to deal with more issues like these.

Please help us make our goal – just thirty new supporters and we’ll be launching our major legal project in the new year!

Join today!