[A2k] Re: [Upd-discuss] MORE Swindle Context 3: World Blind Union's Proposed Exceptions Treaty

[Claude Almansi]

Confirming what James wrote about book famine, from another
mailing-list (PK) discussion about the WBU treaty proposal:

"The issue of copy right exemption for digital material and audio books is =
a
very important issue since it can open up access to a lot of accessible
material for people with print disabilities. An example is the bookshare
project which is not fully accessible to Pakistanis because of copy right
issues:
http://www.bookshare.org/"

Moreover, even in a richer country like Italy, government is
drastically cutting funding to the Library for the blind, which will
have to drastically curtail its scanning of books in the next years,
particularly of school books for blind students.

And there are countries where the "non-blind but nevertheless
reading-disabled" are not yet included in existing exceptions to the
prohibition to circumvent DRM in the copyright law.

Maybe some blind people might be ready to  share your objections to
splitting the anti-DRM issues, Richard, because they have a longer
tradition of e-literacy through the assistive tech described by James.
And have had to struggle with absurd licensing requirements for it,
for instance for JAWS, for a longer time (a blind friend moved to FOSS
after a particularly absurd bout about the licensing of a JAWS
update).

But on the basis of conversation and correspondence with dyslexic
students,  people who are otherwise reading-disabled and haven't been
entitled so far to this assistive technology, only want something that
works. Now if you want these people to be able progress to an
awareness of DRM and proprietary format issues, their need for
something that works for reading must be satisfied first.  Once they
have that, in whatever form, it is more likely that more of them will
join the general struggle against DRM than if they are deprived from
reading at all.

Claude


On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 2:29 AM, James Love <jamespackardlove@gmail.com> wr=
ote:
> Richard,
>
> There is a dispute about text to speech in Kindle 2. =C2=A0There is also =
an
> attempt to get a treaty for reading disabled persons. =C2=A0These are two
> different things. =C2=A0You are badly informed about the nature of both.
>
> Reading disabled persons are a vulnerable community that should be
> protected, as a matter of human rights and decency. =C2=A0The fact that y=
ou
> are so hostile to their situation is both appalling and surprising,
> given your normal sensitivities.
>
> The fact that you are willing to oppose their efforts to get a treaty at
> WIPO shows how little you know about the situation, and unfortunately
> how willing you were to weigh in without knowing much.
>
> A high quality accessible work is more than just digital text. =C2=A0It i=
s a
> tagged XML formated file that can be played back usefully in specialized
> devices that allow people who can't see or have other disabilities to
> use searching tools with the table of contents and page numbers, full
> text key word searching, the ability to annotate text, to have
> descriptors for pictures, graphs and tables, and to present text to the
> reader as refreshable braille, large type or text to speech.
>
> The World Blind Union for decades has been petitioning WIPO for a global
> agreement that would allow works made accessible to reading disabled
> persons under a national limitation and exception to copyright, to be
> both imported and exported across borders. =C2=A0They want this agreement=
 for
> very good reasons. =C2=A0Publishers don't grant voluntary licenses very
> often, it is very expensive to make works truly accessible, copyright
> L&E are currently thought to only apply to the domestic market, and it
> is very expensive for every country to have to create their own
> accessible copies.
>
> The result is something the WBU calls a "Book famine." =C2=A0The paucity =
of
> books in the USA or Europe can be verified by taking 100 books from your
> own bookshelf and searching the catalogs of the handful of organizations
> that are now allowed to publish works for disabled persons without
> permission from copyright owners. =C2=A0These publishers of accessible wo=
rks,
> such as Bookshare.Org, RFB&D, NLS, NCIB or RCIB are working with limited
> resources to serve the disabled community, and they deserve our support.
> It is completely insane to not allow them to share accessible copies
> across borders.
>
> The biggest beneficiaries of the treaty will be blind and other disabled
> persons living in developing countries, who will get access to the
> collections in the US and Europe. =C2=A0The WHO says 90 percent of all
> legally blind persons live in developing countries, where the available
> collections of accessible works are minuscule. =C2=A0There are also large
> numbers of persons living in the US and Europe who speak foreign
> languages, and are not served well by domestic programs for the visually
> impaired.
>
> You are degenerating this effort because the numbers of reading disabled
> persons don't seem large to you. =C2=A0This is offensive. =C2=A0I have an=
 aunt and
> a mother-in law who became blind at the end of their lives and could no
> longer read. I have known people who were blind at birth, blind at 20,
> and people who are rapidly losing their ability to read. They are
> fighting for something we all take for granted -- the right to read.
>
> KEI and other NGOs have worked for years to stop bad treaties at WIPO,
> and to push for a new positive agenda. =C2=A0This is part of the positive
> agenda -- making the global copyright system work better for people. =C2=
=A0It
> does not solve all problems, but it solves important ones. =C2=A0It is qu=
ite
> important that this initiative succeeds. =C2=A0It is not easy. =C2=A0The
> publishers are trying to crush the treaty. =C2=A0I ask you to reconsider =
your
> position on this, or at a minimum, take some time to understand that the
> WIPO negotiation is all about, before you pass judgment. =C2=A0Many peopl=
e
> respect you. =C2=A0Because of your influence, you have a responsibility t=
o be
> informed, and to not harm others.
>
> =C2=A0Jamie
>
>
> The following is a list of books cited by Yochai Benkler in his Wealth
> of Networks book. Meredith Filak searched 3 US, 1 Canadian and 1 UK
> publishers for visually impaired persons to see which books were
> accessible to visually impaired persons. =C2=A06 were available in the US=
. =C2=A01
> in Canada and none in the UK.
>
> AVAILABLE, , RFB&D (US), NLS (US), Bookshare (US), NCIB (Canada), RCIB
> (UK)
> Innis, Harold, The Bias of Communication, , B, EB, , B, EB, DS, DA,
> Lessig, Lawrence, The Future of Ideas, , B, EB, DS, EB, HTML, T, ,
> Ellickson, Robert, Order Without Law, , , DS, ,
> Starr, Paul, The Creation of the Media, DA, CD, CD (via RFB&D), DS, ,
> Barnouw, Erik, A History of Broadcasting in the US, DA, CD, CD (via
> RFB&D)
>
> ALTERNATE ED. AVAILABLE.
> Bagdikian, Ben H., The Media Monopoly, DA, CD (2004), CD (1983; 2004,
> via RFB&D)
>
> UNAVAILABLE, , year
> Winner, Langdon (ed), The Whale and the Reactor, 1986.
> Lessig, Lawrence, Code, 1999.
> Castells, Manuel, The Rise of Networked Society, 1996.
> Einstein, Elizabeth, Printing Press as an Agent of Change, 1979.
> Nelson, Richard (ed), Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity, 1962.
> von Hippel, Eric, Democratizing Innovation, 2005.
> Moody, Glyn, Rebel Code, 2001.
> Ostrom, Elinor, Governing the Commons, 1990.
> Titmuss, Richard M, The Gift Relationship, 1971.
> Frey, Bruno S., Not Just for Money, 1997.
> Frey, Bruno S., Inspiring Economics, 2001.
> Deci, Edward L, and Richard M Ryan, Intrinsic Motivation and
> Self-Determination in Human Behavior, 1985.
> Granovetter, Mark, Getting a Job, 1974.
> Lin, Nan, Social Capital, 2001.
> Weber, Steve, The Success of Open Source, 2004.
> Godelier, Maurice, The Enigma of the Gift, 1999.
> Ullman-Margalit, Edna, The Emergence of Norms, 1977.
> Bernholz, Peter, and Gerald Radnitsky (eds), Economic Imperialism, 1987.
> Black, Donald (ed), Toward a Theory of Social Control, 1984.
> Acheson, James M., The Lobster Gangs of Maine, 1988.
> Kennedy, Duncan, Sexy Dressing Etc, 1993.
> Habermas, Jurgen, Between Facts and Norms, 1996.
> Popkin, Jeremy, News and Politics in the Age of Revolution, 1989.
> Archer, Gleason, History of Radio to 1926, 1971.
> Rosen, Philip T., Modern Stentors, 1980.
> McChesney, Robert Waterman, Telecommunications, Mass Media, and
> Democracy, 1993.
> Baker, C Edwin, Media, Markets, and Democracy, 2002.
>
> B =E2=80=93 Braille
> EB =E2=80=93 E-Braille
> DS =E2=80=93 DAISY
> DA =E2=80=93 Digital Audio
> CD =E2=80=93 Compact Disc Audio
> HTML =E2=80=93 HTML
> T =E2=80=93 Text
>