Quintessence (association)
Quintessenz is an Austrian association that strives to protect informational self-determination and data protection in general. Its goal is the " restoration of civil rights in the information age ".
Composition and goals
Quintessenz is an association of people from technology, science, journalism and art that went online in the summer of 1994 as the first German-language weekly e-zine . Today it is available in the archive of the Austrian National Library . In 1999 an association was registered. The main concern is the restoration of civil rights in the information age , which have been and are increasingly being undermined and restricted primarily by technical means.
Since April 1998 the newsletter q / depesche provides information and comments on topics of data protection, electronic surveillance , civil liberties , freedom of expression , biometrics , free software ( GPL & Linux ), copyright and censorship .
International and national events and collaborations
Big Brother Awards
Since 1999, Quintessenz has been presenting the Austrian Big Brother Awards every year on October 25th as negative prizes for the greatest censors, privacy violators and data sniffers.
q / spot hotspots
Are anonymous and free internet WiFi hotspots in Vienna
- in the MuseumsQuartier Wien [main courtyard] since June 25, 2003
- in the MuseumsQuartier quartier21 since September 2006
- at Gaußplatz since September 12, 2006
- at Karlsplatz since November 2006
- at the Bildenden am Schillerplatz since December 2007.
Linux weeks Austria
Since 2002 Quintessenz has organized the Linux Weeks Austria every year from March to May , the largest Austrian event in the field of open source and free operating systems.
Campaigns in a European context
Publication of the OECD drafts on the future of cryptography in 1996, the secret Enfopol '98 documents, stand against software and idea patents and the transfer of flight data were some of the international commitments.
Memberships
Quintessenz is a founding member of the umbrella organizations Global Internet Liberty Campaign (GILC, 1996) and European Digital Rights (EDRi, Brussels, 2002).
public relation
In addition to the q / depesche , Quintessenz exhibits irregular installations in Vienna's MuseumsQuartier, and holds information events and lectures, e.g. B. at the Chaos Communication Congress . Furthermore, the q / talk takes place every last Tuesday of the month in the Vienna Museumsquartier in "Room D". In 2008, Quintessenz held a science fiction writing competition. The 27 best stories were published as a paperback "At the end of the line".
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ Quintessenz E-Zine about the archive of the Austrian National Library ( Memento of the original dated February 3, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
