E-petitions
The Prime Minister’s website has a new petitions system set up by those clever people at mySociety. It’s currently in beta test but there are plenty of petitions already up there (some saner than others). While I don’t hold out much hope of the Government taking much notice of these (except by cherry-picking the ones with which it already agrees), they take only a few seconds to sign and there are some worthwhile issues.
The two I’ve signed this morning are two of the most popular:
- scrap the proposed introduction of ID cards
- create a new exception to copyright law that gives individuals the right to create a private copy of copyrighted materials for their own personal use, including back-ups, archiving and shifting format
The first is a new anti-ID cards petition, so even if you’ve signed one before it’s worth adding your name here too.
But surely if you sign a petition to scrap the proposed introduction of ID cards on the Prime Ministers website, then they’re going to be able to trace who you are, monitor your internet usage and hunt you down like a dog!
So I’ll be giving that whole system a miss, although kudos to the thought police for thinking it up.
Comment by S Hamilton — November 16, 2006 @ 9:46 am
If they were going to do that, there are countless other ways they could achieve it. I haven’t exactly made a secret of my opposition to ID cards and my address is there on the electoral roll…
Comment by Will — November 16, 2006 @ 9:49 am
mySociety are apparently on more4 news this evening.
Comment by adam — November 21, 2006 @ 5:57 pm
[...] A couple of month’s ago I mentioned the Number 10 petitions, and in particular recommended a petition calling for individuals to have the right to copy material they own for their own personal use, for example by ripping CDs to MP3 format so you can listen on an iPod. [...]
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