[HAIFUX LECTURE] Israeli Digital Rights NPO -- Zvi Devir

[Eli Billauer]

On Monday, October 29th at 18:30, Haifux will gather to hear a talk by 
Zvi Devir:

    Israeli Digital Rights NPO

Abstract

The Digital Rights Movement stands between advanced technology and 
people rights (in the broad sense). Technological advance provides us 
with new products and new means of interacting with our surrounding. It 
provides a customer more flexibility and new ways of using a given 
product. However, it can be used to control and limit the usability of 
the product. For example, a customer buys a product, a certain book. 
Does it matters if the product is a digital book or an old-fashioned 
printed book? The customer should have the same usability rights to read 
the book, the right to read in private, without anyone knowing when and 
where it was read, to quote a few lines from the book, to lend it to a 
friend, and to sell the book to someone else. However, technological 
measures can curb, if not to render useless, some of those rights.

The Digital Rights Movement (DRM) was registered in 2010. It follows the 
steps of the Electrical Frontier Foundation (EFF), which was founded in 
1993, and is the model of most digital rights organizations in the 
western world. The main goal of the DRM is to protect people rights when 
are endangered or threatened by technology measures. Consumer rights are 
only one front. Privacy is another. Freedom of expression is a third. 
And there are many more.

Initial thought about establishing the DRM started during the struggle 
against the biometric database law in 2009. We came to a conclusion that 
there is no NPO in Israel which exclusively focuses on these areas. The 
Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) is addressing violations 
of citizen rights of all types. The Israel Consumer Council handles only 
direct violation of customers rights. Other organizations (Hamakor, 
ISOC, Wikimedia IL) address specific aspects of the digital world.

The DRM has only recently started to operate. It sends official stand 
letters to the Knesset and different ministries, its members are 
participating in Knesset committees. Recently, the DRM (with ACRI) had a 
successful high court petition against the biometric database law, which 
forced the state to recheck the necessity of a national-wide biometric 
database for the issuance of smart identity cards.

Further information on the DRM can be found in its website 
http://digitalrights.org.il.

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We meet in Taub building, room 6. For instructions see:
http://www.haifux.org/where.html

Attendance is free, and you are all invited!

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Future lectures:

12/11/12 What more can industry learn from open source? Yael
          Vaya-Talmor


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We are always interested in hearing your talks and ideas. If you wish to 
give a talk, hold a discussion, or just plan some event haifux might be 
interested in, please contact us at webmaster at haifux.org

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Web: http://www.billauer.co.il