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Title
Innumerable Ones And Zeros
Description
Various people have wondered about how the group (Open Rights Group - ORG) who are currently asking for money relate to UKCDR, and the stuff I've been doing. This entry is an attempt to explain why I think ORG is a good idea.
The main problem with UKCDR is that we've not really done anything signifigant in the past 18 months. We were going to have a go at doing something very much like this, but failed to get round to it. ORG have. For this reason I'm supporting them at the moment :) We offered them the name etc. but for whatever reason they didn't take it.
While it's not a direct overlap with UKCDR people, I know personally almost all of the ORG people (except Suw Charman, who is to be the frontwoman) and think they'll do as good a job as anyone. The clearinghouse role is vitally important. For any specific issue, there is a pressure group, often comprised of no more than one or two people, who know everything about it. Sometimes the group has a good spokesman; often not. Meanwhile, the press are keen on getting "both sides" of issues, and actively seek out spokespeople who give good quotes. Julian Midgley was particularly good at this for Free Sklyarov UK, the campaign that became UKCDR. The clearinghouse will get the spokesmen and the press together, and hopefully have time to actively push an agenda at the press. Speaking to the press requires time, during the working day, and organisational continuity (that is, you can ring the same people tomorrow you rang yesterday and they'll have heard of you).
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