Some of the
Open Rights Group's learn'd friends are calling for help to enable ORG to recruit a legal director:
"We are lawyers who work with the Open Rights Group.
You and the Open Rights Group can make a huge difference in
the UK and European courts, defending your digital rights. That’s why we are
asking you to
join ORG today, so they can hire a Legal Director. We
need just 40 more people to hire them full time.
“The appointment of a legal director will make a real impact on the work of the Open
Rights Group. It has never been more important to have informed
interventions at the High Court and appeal courts on matters to do with digital
rights.
“I know from my own experience as appeal solicitor in the “Twitter Joke
Trial” the difference it makes when courts properly understand technological
issues, especially when imposing criminal liability on the citizen”
David Allen Green, solicitor at Preiskel & Co LLP, and member of
Advisory Council, ORG.
“In the US, digital freedoms have been fought for and won in historic legal
battles such as Reno v ACLU and countless smaller cases where the EFF and
other digital rights groups have helped take on cases involving freedom of
speech online, privacy online, cyber- harassment, vindictive copyright
enforcement and so on. In the UK until now civil society has never had the
capacity to take such important legal cases. Help ORG hire a Legal Director to change this and bring UK law
into the 21st century.”
Dr Lilian Edwards, ORG Advisory Council and Professor of Internet Law
at Strathclyde University
“ORG is a vital partner with EFF in addressing mass surveillance. Just as GCHQ
and NSA work together, it's increasingly critical that we strengthen the
capabilities of groups on both sides of the Atlantic to push back to regain our privacy and free speech.”
Cindy Cohn, Legal Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation
“There is no doubt that Parliament and the Courts have struggled with the
challenges posed by the explosion of online interaction and the growing
importance of rights in an increasingly digital world. Decisions made now will
shape the approach that the Law takes for decades and possibly longer. This is
a key moment. ORG speaks up for those whose interests are usually discounted
when it comes to governmental and judicial policy making – it speaks up for you
and everyone else who lacks a vested interest and a lobbying budget. A Legal Director is exactly what ORG needs at exactly the time we
all most need ORG.”
Seán Jones QC11KBW Chambers
“The law can be an instrument of repression but it can also be a powerful tool
for change. Your support for ORG's Legal Director post can make a real difference
in the fight for digital freedom in the UK.”
Eric Metcalfe, Monckton Chambers, former director of human rights
policy at JUSTICE
“Please help with the appointment of a Legal Director for the Open
Rights Group. In my personal experience, ORG have initiated valuable
interventions on civil liberties issues affecting millions of adults in the UK,
such as filtering.”
Myles Jackman, Law Society Junior Lawyer of the YearConsultant
Solicitor-Advocate at Hodge Jones and Allen LLP @ObscenityLawyer
"As an American lawyer I've seen how important it is to have boots on the
ground to defend civil liberties in court. Even when the underlying law
itself is designed to protect civil liberties, being able to appeal directly to
the courts may be the only way to keep them protected not just in theory but in practice."
Cathy Gellis, US Tech and civil liberties lawyer
“I have had the honour of working with ORG to do some marvellous work: both
intervening in high profile cases and working behind the scenes to help
individuals who have fallen foul of laws that were not or should not have been
drafted for the modern digital world. I am convinced that ORG could do so much
more with the assistance of a full-time legal director and I am excited by all
the things that ORG could do if it had one. Money pledged for this purpose will be money well spent.”
Francis Davey, Independent barrister and ORG legal volunteer
We need just 40 people to join to make this project happen.Please help us
hire a full time Legal Director by joining the Open Rights Group today!
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/join/help-hire-orgs-legal-director
Yours,
ORG Legal volunteers and ORG Law group
_________
[1] British government to answer fast-track spy challenge https://www.privacynotprism.org.uk/news/2014/01/24/british-government-to-answer-fast-track-spy-challenge/"
Given this prompt I'd like to invite the academy to
consider again the possibility of creating a network of digital rights cyberlaw clinics to provide ORG and their forthcoming legal director with pro bono support in critical cases.
