On April 11, the Open Rights Group is having a party/raffle in London. ORG is a group I co-founded that works to preserve online freedom in the United Kingdom, and they've done amazing work since (I can't take any credit for that — it's all down to ORG's incredible volunteers and supporters, as well as its executive directors, Suw Charman and Becky Hogge) — they were instrumental in slaying the proposal to extend copyright on phonorecords by another 45 years. That's the first time (that I know of) that a proposal to extend copyright has been defeated!
The ORG party is a chance for people who care about this stuff to get to know each other, and there are some great items up for raffle. I'm selling off naming rights to a character in Little Brother, my forthcoming young adult novel about hacker kids who fight the American Department of Homeland Security.
It's less than two weeks until Support ORG! (and Party) – the ORG supporter event on the evening of 11 April at Bar Kick, London. To recap – SO!(aP) is a chance for ORG supporters to meet one another, and we're asking each ORG supporter to bring at least one friend who they think would like to support ORG if they knew more about our work. The event will feature "public domain" music, remixed visuals and free culture goodie bags – truly an evening not to be missed.
And I'm pleased to announce that our very special guest speaker will be ORG's pledge founder – Danny O'Brien – who is flying in to the UK from his EFF outpost in San Francisco. What's more, we've got even more treats to add to the ORG raffle – a signed copy of Code 2.0 from Lawrence Lessig, £150 in O'Reilly book vouchers and… wait for it… a signed copy of the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property! But remember, you don't get a chance to win anything, if you don't buy a ticket (£2.50 each – available now via Paypal or on the night for cold, hard cash).
We want as many people as possible to come and join us for this event, so please spread the word. See you there!
