17:49:16 #startmeeting ORG Supporter Council Meeting 17:49:16 Meeting started Wed Jun 29 17:49:16 2016 UTC. The chair is irl. Information about MeetBot at http://wiki.debian.org/MeetBot. 17:49:16 Useful Commands: #action #agreed #help #info #idea #link #topic. 17:49:37 right now, of course, nothing changes.. 17:50:55 It's pretty hard to predict what will happen right now. I hope they don't try and rush IP bill through. 17:50:58 Margarida: https://twitter.com/DavidAllenGreen/status/747686682087034886 17:50:59 i'm predicting that in the vast uncertainty of everything, things will slow down and this works to give us more time in working against the IP bill 17:51:02 I kinda suspect they might 17:51:03 unless they go to rush it 17:51:20 or more verbosely: http://jackofkent.com/2016/06/where-we-are-now-with-article-50-decision-notify-and-devolution-issues/ 2 17:51:57 yes, this is a concern. We have been asking them to wait until there is more certainty about the political future of the UK 17:52:09 any "we're out of europe so it's a surveillance free-for-all is very unlikely" 17:52:14 is there any chance they'll sell this as an "emergency"? 17:52:34 It's really hard to call from my perspective 17:53:32 It is really is hard to say. 17:54:18 Keir Starmer, who had been leading for Labour on the IPB, has also resigned. Very little knowledge of the Bill now in Labour front bench (Andy Burnham only). 17:54:19 I think the biggest fear is that a general election will be called and the Bill gets passed in the last day of Government 17:54:31 Even for the tories, it would be a challenge to link the EU to a need for more surveillance 17:54:43 but the fixed term parliaments thing prevents a general election being called? 17:54:56 2/3 majority in house can call it right? 17:55:26 ah ok, did not realise that 17:55:52 Or a vote of no confidence in the government - which the government itself could call if it wanted to precipitate an election. 17:56:28 IIRC, IANA-constitutional-L 17:56:45 vote of no confidence followed by 2 weeks and no new gov I think. Anyway, details aside, yes, it could happen. IANAL 17:57:24 instead of looking at things we're uncertain about, what things do we know? 17:57:51 we know that the referrendum was completely advisory and ignorable, and for now all EU directives, CJEU rulings, etc. still apply 17:58:13 IPB goes to committee stage of Lords on 11th July 17:58:29 are we going to tweet a lord again or did that not work too well last time? 17:58:52 And Advocate General's opinion on Davis/Watson is 19th July 17:59:13 Yeh, what could we do at local level in relation to the Lords stuff? 17:59:35 We can do tweet a lord again 17:59:48 Lords don't have consituencies, so you can talk to all of them, though if you send them all the same letter then they all just get thrown away and not read 17:59:54 We sent in a briefing to every Lord on Friday 18:00:29 Do some lords have areas they are tied to? Are they more likely to respond to ppl from that area? 18:00:43 jarofgreen: they do live in places, i guess 18:01:16 They have a title Lord X of Place but that doesn't mean they represent that area in any real sense 18:01:23 irl: is that actually the case with mass mail outs? I've heard different things from different people. 18:01:40 georgeowell: this is based on what i remember last time we did tweet a lord things 18:01:53 from reading the house of lords website 18:02:00 * irl looks for the page again 18:02:03 I kinda think they wouldn't actually know 18:02:09 even though they would say that 18:02:16 well no, not represent. But do some of them feel more connection to that area, and thus more likely to respond? just random thought 18:02:38 Individuals emailing the same email to all Lords isn't going to go down well 18:02:39 Does ORG have a list of Lords it's targeting for lobbying? Tweeting / emailing / telephoning support to those Lords might be productive. 18:02:57 Yes 18:03:00 aaah, i'm thinking of Please note that if more than six copies of the same email are received, all will be deleted. 18:03:32 #link http://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/whos-in-the-house-of-lords/get-in-touch-with-members/ 18:03:37 yep, good point irl 18:04:29 #link https://www.writetothem.com/lords this also exists 18:04:43 Same advice applies to writing to Lords as to MPs - write your own individual letter, etc. 18:05:08 also this: 18:05:09 https://www.writetothem.com/lords 18:05:55 Narrowing the list of Lords down by level of interest, level of activity will be important 18:06:03 I feel we're slightly in the weeds here, and have moved on from the impact of Brexit in particular. Did we intend to do that? 18:06:04 The writetothem website has a weird option - Find a Lord who shares my birthday 18:06:43 graphiclunarkid: the impact of Brexit is entirely unknown, if the bill is going to the Lords on the 11th, we have something concrete to work with 18:06:54 although i'm happy to move back to Brexit if there's more to be discussed 18:07:04 On the impact of Brexit, there's a specific risk that the IPBill is now being discussed at a time when nothing other than Brexit is being reported. 18:07:28 Something I wanted to talk about on subject of Brexit.... 18:07:32 I think ORG's strategy of demanding a delay is sound - I just wanted to raise it as a risk. 18:07:33 ok, so an awareness issue 18:07:55 How do you feel about taking part in European consultations and campaigns on EU level legislation generally? 18:08:04 as an aside: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/search/?s=investigatory+power+bill&o=p&house=2&wtt=1 18:08:41 damn missed an "s" off that search 18:08:43 http://www.theyworkforyou.com/search/?s=investigatory+powers+bill&o=p&house=2&wtt=1 18:09:02 there is a worrisome line of thinking, given some of the frankly fascist rhetoric that has been flying, that, well... let's just say that spying laws are very compatible with that 18:09:21 It feels like people will be quite confused if we turn around and ask people to take part in a European consultation at this point 18:09:57 Another point on Brexit: is there mileage in arguing that handing IPBill powers to a future government with a mandate to reduce immigration drastically would be very risky for certain groups? How about warrants to hack all mobile phones in the vicinity of a port or airport? Or mining ICRs for people who view mainly non-English websites? 18:10:01 (ok, just to get everyone on the same boat now - let's first discuss Brexit in general and then move on to the Bill) 18:10:09 Hmm, ww got that point in before me - nice one! 18:11:00 Yes I think the 'be careful who we might be handing these powers to' argument could work well with both sides! 18:11:17 re: EU campigns. with particular ref to Scotland, the EU law is bound into scottish parliaments founding bill. It will apply for a while. Even if scotland goes indy then has to wait 5 years to rejoin EU (many unknows there but), it will probably try and follow EU law as much as possible so reentry to the EU is easier. So basically for Sctoland, probably the answer is yes. 18:12:05 agree that it's a particularly tough time to be making meaningful progress against IPB until any of the uncertainty is settled re. Brexit 18:12:16 Thanks James. 18:12:19 Thanks Oliver 18:12:26 EU regulations will still influence British ones, so yes, I say campaign on in the EU. 18:13:02 One issue is how UK-based campaigns will be received in Brussels. 18:13:09 Ed, agree that it's unfortunate timing but generally I think more involvement with international and European campaigns would be very good. 18:13:11 sorry I'm late, had the wrong time, thought it was 7:30 18:13:39 edjohnsonwilliam: We might have to launder the campaigns through EDRi, I guess? 18:13:50 You can see how people there would be confused/angry that 'you Brits who voted to leave are telling us what to do with our laws' 18:14:02 Yep I thought the same Richard 18:14:10 This is the whole problem with relinquishing our seat at the table :( 18:14:29 Fraid I have to head off. Speak soon. 18:14:35 perhaps a stratergy is just to form closer ties with organisations working in other countries 18:14:39 Bye Maddy 18:14:44 Bye 18:15:06 I wonder how Nicola S approach today helped? Does this mitigate the anger/confusion of telling us what to do? 18:15:18 ie "Scotland says..." 18:15:26 edjohnsonwilliam: we haven't left yet, and brssels is not stupid, they realise there is opposition within the uk, and particularly scottish are likely to be received favourably 18:15:53 Yep, we're a member of EDRi (European Digital Rights) who we often submit things with. We can continue doing that. 18:16:32 agree with ww 18:17:13 An issue might arise if we side with an EU position against a UK government one - a position in which we often find ourselves! If attitudes towards "foreign laws" harden we might need to watch our campaigns to make sure people don't reject us for being too European in outlook. 18:18:16 hmm I agree to a certain extent but let's not water down out stance for the sake of an imagined perception 18:18:41 politicans do that all the time and it hasn't currently worked out well for them 18:19:01 Yes - I realise I didn't phrase that too well. Don't wish to suggest we modify our position to avoid aligning with the EU - just that we need to make sure we're voicing opinions of our own. 18:19:47 yep it's something to be aware of 18:19:52 yes, this is a concern. i have already seen in ORGs social media some pretty hard reactions to the EU and even to our position in regards EU. 18:20:01 Oh dear, I'm struggling to words this evening. I meant we should avoid the appearance of our thinking being led automatically by Europe. 18:20:08 I think that will come down to messaging 18:20:19 Yes. That. 18:20:57 I've heard today for example that Ofcom are planning on not voting at meetings of the European telecommunications regulators from now on 18:21:40 They're working on how to implement EU net neutrality rules 18:21:44 That's appalling if true. Their mandate hasn't changed. 18:22:01 Pulling up the drawbridge a bit early, much! 18:22:07 really 18:22:47 edjohnsonwilliam: reference please 18:23:10 * irl isn't finding anything 18:23:27 It's from conversations I've had today with net neutrality campaigners 18:23:36 It's not public 18:24:32 ah ok 18:25:03 The point of this was to see how you all felt about ORG's EU campaigns 18:25:38 i think if we are doing EU campaigns, we should make it clear that Brexit actually didn't change anything with regard to what laws apply to the UK 18:25:51 and that EU law is still something we should try to positively affect 18:26:17 even if we leave, if we want to have trade agreements etc. we're going to end up following these laws anyway 18:26:27 we're just going to stop having a say in them 18:26:41 I imagine it’s going to be a very fluid situation and we’ll have to check month by month. eg if clause 50 is issued I imagine it will all change. But for now, I would have thought yes, do EU camaigns, tho I don’t have any data to back that up. Is there any data that could help with this Q? 18:27:00 Thanks both 18:27:12 Yes. It's very likely that EU law will still apply in some way. And for now nothing is decided anyway. 18:27:39 EUdataP is a good example - if UK businesses want to handle data on EU citizens they'll have to conform... 18:27:45 I agree with jarofgreen 18:27:52 So much for the bonfire of EU regulations! 18:28:22 exactly 18:29:17 * ww is still shocked that you can buy cod in tesco's mind 18:29:25 kl, should we move on? 18:29:51 can we just summarise first what we've got from that discussion? 18:30:08 it is good to know your position. I think that as ORG we will still have a bunch of meetings to decide our strategy precisely, but this will feed into that 18:30:15 ok, so to sum up: 18:30:24 Yep very helpful. Thanks all. 18:31:25 so far not much changes, we will still have to abide to the same laws. As a group we agree that we should continue campaigning on EU issues and even asking supporters to answer consultations, etc 18:31:44 We will also look for more cooperation with EDRI to solidify our position in Brussels 18:31:49 am I missing something? 18:32:02 look more closely into Ofcom allegedly shirking 18:32:15 yes, we should keep an eye on that 18:32:22 Margarida: That position is going to need repeated explaining to supporters, I think, lest they respond with "we're leaving the EU so what's the point?" 18:33:18 yes, that I believe is a problem. We will probably have to wait a while before we can do something like that. First, we need to make the case for why it still matters 18:33:22 ww: Yep we're chasing down how accurate that was. tbf, Ofcom are on the other side of the argument from most pro-net neutrality people. 18:33:53 * irl needs to disappear for ~10min, back soon 18:34:31 shall we then discuss the IPBill now? 18:34:34 "we're leaving the EU so what's the point?" is exactly the reaction I expect to get even with lots of repeated explaining 18:36:53 "no we're not, that's a fantasy"? 18:37:19 I believe that we should expect lower attention and participation in EU focused activities 18:39:22 this will be tricky and to perfectly honest I think it will take us quite a while to come up with an answer... 18:39:49 you are probably right 18:40:15 * irl returns 18:40:22 Ok let's move on 18:40:34 #topic IP Bill 18:40:40 so shall we return to the IPBill? 18:41:06 we were discussing the type of campaigning we can do... particularly at a local level 18:41:56 #info IPB goes to committee stage of Lords on 11th July 18:42:17 so does ORG already have some plans? 18:43:18 Has ORG already been communicating with any Lords or not up until now? 18:43:20 We've sent Lords a couple of briefings so far. Been working with several Peers, particularly in the Lib Dems 18:43:42 are the briefings just short letters or was there a report attached? 18:43:58 We've done both 18:44:01 if there was a report, that would be useful to have as a reference 18:44:25 It was done quickly and not sure if it's online 18:44:35 I will check and send it round on the list tomorrow 18:45:10 Yeh, that would be useful thanks. 18:45:30 Engaging with Lords is always a condundrum. Do you have any thoughts about where to go next? 18:46:30 would there be someone available from tech-vols to put together a tweet a lord website tomorrow? 18:46:37 I forgot. We'll also be getting pieces in the newspapers that peers predominantly read 18:47:26 I'll ask them 18:47:38 we can also then link to writetothem for those that also would like to send emails 18:47:52 but we should point out the dupe email going in the bin thing quite prominently 18:48:24 We've put together a tweet your MP tool. The bit we're missing is a list of peers who are active on Twitter Twitter 18:48:39 I imagine this is something tech-vols would be good for 18:48:44 this could be a start: 18:48:45 http://www.lordsdigitalchamber.co.uk/ 18:49:02 See https://www.snooperscharter.co.uk/ for example of what we've got atm 18:49:16 the lords data source you were asking about last week had some twitter accounts in 18:49:51 http://www.lordsdigitalchamber.co.uk/?q=snooperscharter 18:50:01 Includes this gem 18:50:02 Brian Paddick @brianpaddick Talking about #ImACelebrity, Nigel Havers, Derek Hatton, #SnoopersCharter, & local @MCRLibDems hero @johnleechmcr tonight in Manchester. 18:50:23 heh 18:50:41 http://www.lordsdigitalchamber.co.uk/contributors/ 18:50:46 done 18:51:08 oh nice 18:51:27 I wonder how up to date this is 18:51:29 Nice. Is that a list of all Peers who use Twitter at all? 18:51:42 maybe we can contact whoever is running that site 18:51:43 Seems quite a short list 18:51:44 it looks like it, but we might want to validate it 18:52:33 https://twitter.com/ukhouseoflords/lists/peers-on-twitter/members 18:52:40 who knows what pubs lords drink at? 18:53:16 edjohnsonwilliam: that last one seems to be compiled by the hosue of lords 18:53:17 how would we target the tweets? 18:53:35 I mean if there is no constituency 18:53:47 Margarida: in the past, it would randomly pick lords and then you'd just send them the tweet and keep sending tweets until you'd done them all 18:54:08 throw in some hashtags and a link to a page describing the issue to lords 18:54:08 that's 165 accounts there 18:54:21 including some such as Labour Lords etc 18:54:22 maybe we come up with a few tweets to send and randomly pick one 18:54:30 and also allow people to customise the tweets 18:54:52 we could have a tweetalord bot 18:55:27 and there's 181 on the list irl posted 18:56:52 i think this is more the realm of tech-vols though, i know i won't have time for coding this up 18:57:07 It's ok 18:57:14 This was really helpful 18:57:21 We already made a Tweet your MP tool 18:57:38 we haven't had great numbers at our brum events so i think we may look to go do talks with relevant groups 18:57:39 We can work with that to make this work 18:57:56 cool (: 18:58:03 tbh I think people are familar with sending a tweet than writing a letter these days 18:58:17 ok so 18:58:27 #action modify tweet your mp tool to also tweet lords 18:59:26 Georgeowell: do you mean talks from other ORG groups or talks in Brum? 18:59:27 on the more local level, i've got a local meeting tomorrow, those blog posts were helpful but if there's any more information i can absorb before tomorrow evening to discuss at the meeting, that would be handy 18:59:42 so the report from edjohnsonwilliam if that can be made available 18:59:50 Margarida: talks in brum 19:00:58 about the IPBill? 19:01:09 yep 19:02:04 obviously we're still running events as well but there's no core members apart from me and francis really 19:02:09 everyone else comes and goes 19:02:27 Yes, that sounds like a good plan. Spreading the word to other groups and networks will help 19:02:44 which is a shame as it puts a lot of pressure on us to promote events 19:03:10 irl: I am not sure of more material. 19:03:18 if there is more material 19:03:51 I think not from ORG 19:04:01 ok 19:04:19 There's the Lords briefing 19:04:45 #topic Local Group meetings 19:04:50 tbh, a shift in focus... 19:05:06 more educating people how they can protect themselves from the spying 19:05:19 yep, that's what I'm mostly interested in. 19:05:20 less trying to convince deaf ears 19:05:45 faith in the parlimentary system is at an all time low for sure 19:06:07 that's when we've had our best turnouts for tech workshops and such 19:06:12 at the local meetings i'm running, we do talk about things like Tails, Tor browser, etc. and various tools you can use to avoid surveillance 19:06:22 i had Tails stickers at the last one 19:06:29 We're running two events this month 19:06:37 one is the haystack documentary/discussion 19:06:42 we run our meetings jointly with fsfe aberdeen, so there's overlap of these 19:06:46 the second is a tech workshop 19:06:54 irl: oh that's good 19:07:11 I haven't had much luck linking up with the local LUG 19:07:23 mostly because I miss the meetings due to work 19:07:34 oh, the LUG hate us, they very anarchist-oriented and they feel our meetings have too much structure 19:07:52 lol 19:07:53 the LUG also do not like the FSFE group 19:07:59 whoa tech rifts 19:08:24 * MrArt heard the LUG uses emacs 19:08:32 ahaha 19:08:48 georgeowell: for your tech-oriented meetings have you detailed what goes on anywhere? 19:09:08 I think we posted the slides from our last one 19:09:11 it would be good if we could have some "meeting templates" for groups that want to try out a new kind of meeting 19:09:26 in aberdeen we're just doing pub meetings at present 19:09:32 we've done cryptoparties in the past 19:09:38 how are the pub meetings going? 19:09:51 pub meetings seem good 19:09:58 What sort of people are going along? 19:10:26 around 10 people turning up last time, but the discussion is good 19:10:30 irl: hmm I have the files on my computer 19:10:33 (aside: I went to the Sheffield LUG once. I swear I'm not making this up: their leader spent an hour telling us how he invented Linux when he was in the RAF...) 19:10:39 I need somewhere to host them really 19:10:44 http://www.meetup.com/ORG-Aberdeen/events/231266835/ 19:10:49 that's our next one 19:11:13 is it possible to host files on the ORG wiki? 19:11:31 georgeowell: i was going to suggest the wiki as a location for these things (: 19:11:35 I'm pretty sure you can add files yes 19:12:04 Maybe that's something to think about 19:12:23 I would love to have any resources other groups have made 19:12:41 Yes, I can look into that and then spread the word 19:12:46 re: wiki 19:12:47 I've been doing some training sessions with journalists, charities, ORG London about threat modelling 19:12:50 #idea publish resources that are used in local groups on the wiki for reuse by other local groups 19:13:02 I can throw a couple of presentations I made in whatever the libreoffice format is and as pdfs 19:13:05 edjohnsonwilliam: they sound interesting 19:13:08 Happy to share presentations 19:13:29 especially if they're in an open format 19:13:44 as sometimes finding images and what not can take time 19:13:48 ok, we're coming up to two hours on this meeting, i'll have to go soon 19:14:08 yes, and i think we can start discussing the last topic - the training day 19:14:10 Margarida: should we quickly move on to the training day 19:14:13 yep 19:14:17 #topic Training day 19:14:18 it's aimed at getting people to be able to make better judgements about their threats and work out which areas they want to improve their security 19:14:47 as first steps. Then moving on to tools and behaviour changes once they're ready 19:15:30 Margarida: did you have any luck finding a venue in brum. I spoke to the people at GAP arts and they're up for it. 19:15:31 So, I think that this will be the type of discussion that we want to have in the training day 19:15:45 This is building off research by people like Angela Sasse at UCL about how people don't stick with security measures if they haven't 'bought' into it 19:15:52 Thank you so much with your help with it btw 19:15:58 no problem 19:16:01 I am having some issues with scheduling 19:16:35 First of all, can I just ask, from the ones thinking of going, can you make it there on a Friday? 19:16:45 ok, perhaps we can talk on the phone or Signal about it in the new few days. We'll speal via email. 19:16:56 what's the proposed date sorry? 19:17:08 So far we have aiming for the 23rd of July 19:17:11 which is a Saturday 19:17:13 *organise 19:17:51 hmm it's currently not so good for me 19:18:00 but i maybe be able to reschedule some stuff 19:18:07 i'm afraid i'm not going to be able to make it as i'll likely be in Berlin at the time 19:18:14 friday not good for me, sorry 19:18:35 (basically the whole second half of July is bad for me) 19:18:47 Art: if it was on a Saturday in July would it be better? 19:19:20 I can't do Sat 16th at all, sorry 19:19:34 ok, it is good to have a general sense of availability. I will send around a doodle to lock down dates 19:19:40 cool 19:19:41 but in terms of content 19:20:15 yep, doodle is a good way of finding out. 19:20:47 our plan was to 1) get everyone together to discuss campaigns and wider policy issues (i.e. Brexit, IPBill, E-privacy), 2)get some workshops on local campaigning techniques 19:21:11 Would this be just one event in London? 19:21:28 no, this would be an all day meeting in Birmingham 19:21:53 I think it will be quite tricky to co-ordinate considering we're so spread out 19:22:00 if people need, we can help with transport costs 19:22:20 co-ordinate? 19:22:35 Margarida: Just finding a day when enough of us can make it 19:23:02 Don't worry about a venue btw. I have lots of contacts here and will deffo be able to sort us a good space. 19:23:30 ah yes, it will be hard. and there might be a point in postponing it to a later date so we can guarantee a good attendance 19:24:08 that will be something to discuss once we have the doodle done 19:24:25 I could reliably fill out a doodle poll for the next few months I think. 19:24:28 I'd find it quite hard to make Birmingham in July unfortunately - doodle sounds like a good idea 19:25:14 Ok, so that will next step. Send out a doodle and then check back in again 19:26:20 just in terms of planning, is there some particular workshop that you would like to have? 19:26:27 #idea send round doodle poll to gauge people's availability for training day 19:26:28 this could be a tool, technique, etc 19:27:20 I think a lot of sharing about methods for building a strong local group 19:27:25 what works what doesn't 19:27:35 how we can all share resources etc 19:28:05 our group is quite new so we're kinda making it up as we go along 19:29:07 yes, I agree that an open discussion with everyone on what works, what doesn't would be good. could be looking into a workshop specifically on events; another on local campaigning 19:29:12 I'm sure there's lots of expertise some of you have gained that would help us 19:30:00 that sounds great 19:30:33 I think we are running quite long right now, so if someone has some suggestion for the training you can just send it to the mailing list 19:30:41 yep 19:30:46 and we can just wrap it up for today 19:31:03 or does someone want to discuss something else? 19:31:32 i think we can wrap it up here 19:31:39 agreed 19:31:53 great 19:31:57 thanks everyone for that 19:32:05 #endmeeting