Orders

Orders is a surname.

Etymology

The etymology of 'Orders' is unclear, although there are records extant dating the surname in its current spelling back to the 17th century in the Warminster region of Wiltshire and the 16th century in Cambridgeshire, England. The root of the name in its possible variant spelling forms can be ALD, AUD, OLD or ORD to which have been added a suffix such as AS, ES, ERS, IS, OS, US, etc. 'Orders' therefore has many possible genealogical or historical derivations which are affiliated in common via the shared modern spelling.

Derivation

The modern surname is now found in many parts of the world, and suggestions as to its historical roots include:

Harvey Weinstein

Harvey Weinstein, CBE (born March 19, 1952) is an American film producer and film studio executive. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005. He won an Academy Award for producing Shakespeare in Love, and garnered seven Tony Awards for producing a variety of winning plays and musicals, including The Producers, Billy Elliot the Musical, and August: Osage County.

Education and early career

Weinstein was born in Flushing, New York. He was raised in a Jewish family, the son of Max Weinstein, a diamond cutter, and Miriam (Postal). He grew up with his younger brother, Bob Weinstein, in a housing co-op named Electchester in New York City. He graduated from John Bowne High School, and then the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.

Weinstein, his brother Bob, and Corky Burger, independently produced rock concerts as Harvey & Corky Productions in Buffalo through most of the 1970s. Both Weinstein brothers had grown up with a passion for movies and they nurtured a desire to enter the film industry. In the late 1970s, using profits from their concert promotion business, the brothers created a small independent film distribution company called Miramax, named after their parents – Miriam and Max. The company's first releases were primarily music-oriented concert films such as Paul McCartney's Rockshow.

Gag order

A gag order (also known as a gagging order or suppression order) is an order, typically a legal order by a court or government, restricting information or comment from being made public or passed onto any unauthorized third party. The phrase may sometimes be used of a private order by an employer or other institution.

Gag orders may be used, for example, to keep legitimate trade secrets of a company, to protect the integrity of ongoing police or military operations, or to protect the privacy of victims or minors. Conversely, as their downside, they may be abused as a useful tool for those of financial means to intimidate witnesses and prevent release of information, using the legal system rather than other methods of intimidation. Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) orders may potentially be abused in this way.

In a similar manner, a "gag law" may limit freedom of the press, by instituting censorship or restricting access to information.

Examples

Australia

In the summer of 2014, WikiLeaks revealed the existence of an Australia-wide gagging order, issued June 19 by the Supreme Court of Victoria, to block reporting of bribery allegations involving several international political leaders in the region.

Television licensing in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies, any household watching or recording live television transmissions as they are being broadcast (terrestrial, satellite, cable, or internet) is required to hold a television licence. Businesses, hospitals, schools and a range of other organisations are also required to hold television licences to watch and record live TV broadcasts. Since 1 April 2010 the annual licence fee has been £145.50 for colour and £49.00 for black and white. Income from the licence is primarily used to fund the television, radio and online services of the BBC. The total income from licence fees was £3.735 billion in 2014–15 of which £613.4 million or 16.4% was provided by the Government through concessions for those over the age of 75. Thus, the licence fee made up the bulk of the BBC's total income of £4.805 billion in 2014–2015.

Operation of the licensing system

Licence fee collection and use

The TV licence fee is a tax collected by the BBC and primarily used to fund the radio, television and online services of the BBC itself. This type of tax (ie. one raised for a particular defined purpose) is known as a hypothecated tax. Licence Fee collection is the responsibility of the BBC's Finance and Business division.

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the public service broadcaster of the United Kingdom, headquartered at Broadcasting House in London.

The BBC is the world's oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees, with over 20,950 staff in total, of whom 16,672 are in public sector broadcasting; including part-time, flexible as well as fixed contract staff, the total number is 35,402.

The BBC is established under a Royal Charter and operates under its Agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Its work is funded principally by an annual television licence fee which is charged to all British households, companies, and organisations using any type of equipment to receive or record live television broadcasts. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and used to fund the BBC's extensive radio, TV, and online services covering the nations and regions of the UK. From 1 April 2014, it also funds the BBC World Service, launched in 1932, which provides comprehensive TV, radio, and online services in Arabic, and Persian, and broadcasts in 28 languages.