The Open Rights Group , a pressure group pursuing reform of intellectual property law in the United Kingdom, held its first "ORGCon" yesterday at City University London . Approximately 100 delegates took part in six hours of panel discussions and workshops on a wide range of topics in intellectual property, discussing such subjects as "How To Talk To Your MP " and "ACTA: A Shady Business", in what ORG billed as a "crash course in digital rights" designed to inspire campaigning on intellectual property issues. Cory Doctorow , a fiction author and digital rights activist, led the keynote panel discussion "Thriving in the Real Digital Economy", which opened the conference. Doctorow called for a "reframing" of the digital rights slogan "information wants to be free". "The most important thing" about digital rights, he noted, "has nothing to do with art. We are refitting the information network with lots of control." Digital rights management (DRM) technologies, Doctorow warns, build in limitations on how consumers exchange information and "abuse the market". John Buckman of Magnatune followed up Doctorow's comments, noting that DRM is "unsustainable" but that the public needed to "pressure companies into" open-source solutions. A keynote speech by James Boyle compared the current age to the age just before application of the theories of Adam Smith and other early capitalist economists began breaking down the entrenched monopolies of mercantilism . Boyle called on the audience to come up with a "jaw droppingly simple" idea for a reformed copyright system; he gave his speech in front of a projection of the twitterfall as audience members commented on his words. Boyle, like most of the conference, took a pro-reform but anti-piracy position, saying "It is a tragedy that an entire generation has lost the notion that breaking the law is wrong". While several members of the Pirate Party UK , wearing matching t-shirts, attended the conference and held a fringe meeting during the last session, none spoke in the keynote sessions either as panelists or in the discussions.
London — The , a pressure group pursuing reform of law in the United Kingdom, held its first "ORGCon" yesterday at . Approximately 100 delegates took part in six hours of panel discussions and workshops on a wide range of topics in intellectual property, discussing such subjects as "How To Talk To Your " and "ACTA: A Shady Business", in what ORG billed as a "crash course in digital rights" designed to inspire campaigning on intellectual property issues. , a fiction author and digital rights activist, led the keynote panel discussion "Thriving in the Real Digital Economy", which opened the conference. Doctorow called for a "reframing" of the digital rights slogan "information wants to be free". "The most important thing" about digital rights, he noted, "has nothing to do with art. We are refitting the information network with lots of control." (DRM) technologies, Doctorow warns, build in limitations on how consumers exchange information and "abuse the market". John Buckman of followed up Doctorow's comments, noting that DRM is "unsustainable" but that the public needed to "pressure companies into" open-source solutions. A keynote speech by compared the current age to the age just before application of the theories of and other early capitalist economists began breaking down the entrenched monopolies of . Boyle called on the audience to come up with a "jaw droppingly simple" idea for a reformed copyright system; he gave his speech in front of a projection of the as audience members commented on his words. Boyle, like most of the conference, took a pro-reform but anti- position, saying "It is a tragedy that an entire generation has lost the notion that breaking the law is wrong". While several members of the , wearing matching t-shirts, attended the conference and held a during the last session, none spoke in the keynote sessions either as panelists or in the discussions.
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The Open Rights Group
London — The
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intellectual property
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City University London
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MP
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Cory Doctorow
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Digital rights management
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Magnatune
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James Boyle
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Adam Smith
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mercantilism
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twitterfall
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anti-piracy
anti-
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Pirate Party UK
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fringe meeting