[A2k] L&E and DRM/ TPMs - parking lot analogy

[Richard M Stallman]

    I think there is a great deal of misunderstanding here about who is
    asking for what.  Reading disabled persons are asking for (1) exceptions
    to exclusive rights of copyright owners, and in order to benefit from
    this exception, they are (2) asking for the right to circumvent DRM/TPM
    regimes.

The right to circumvent DRM is already available in the US, under the
DMCA, for certain cases (including fair use).  It proves to be of
little use unless one can get the _means_ to do it.  Those are usually
not available because the DMCA forbids their distribution.

What will really help blind people -- and the rest of us too -- is the
right to distribute circumvention programs and devices.  That will enable
organizations for the blind to make and distribute accessible copies,
and do so without asking for any special favor from the publishers,
which means they won't have to cater to the demands of those publishers
by imposing their own DRM on the blind people they claim to serve.