[Random-bits] Abraham Lloyd on the Kindle2/Authors Guild demo in NYC
James Love
james.love@keionline.org
Tue Apr 7 15:24:00 2009
I am in Montreal right now, and missed the Right Rights Coalition
demonstration at the Authors Guild. Manon, Judit and Malini from our
office are in NYC at the demonstration, and said it was incredibly
moving. Several people at the protest sent reports to tweeter.com. The
most complete was probably the set by Abraham Lloyd. This was his
account, with the Tweets organized from his first to last.
http://twitter.com/abrahamlloyd
@abrahamlloyd #kindle2 #right2read #protest
45. In the city now, on the way to the protest. My anticipation.and
excitement is building. #kindle2 #right2read #protest.about 3 hours ago
from Tweetie
44. About seven blocks away. The protest should have a few hundred
people. #kindle2 #right2read #protest.about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
43. Just met Patricia and Mary at the protest. They were walking on the
way to the protest. #kindle2 #right2read #protest.about 2 hours ago from
Tweetie
42. The reason for this protest begins to hit home when you see how
upset people are about this issue. #kindle2 #right2read #protest.about 2
hours ago from Tweetie
41. My estimate is that there about 200+ people here. Note: informal
head count. #kindle2 #right2read #protest.about 2 hours ago from
Tweetie
41. First observation: this protest is very organized and under control
without shackling theIr pasion. #kindle2 #right2read #protest.about 2
hours ago from Tweetie
40. There’s a rally master with music and a mike leading cheers and
chants, maintaining a positive tone. #kindle2 #right2read #protest.about
2 hours ago from Tweetie
40a. Everyone (blind, seeing, or disabled) is carrying a sign expressing
their displeasure with the guild. #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout 2
hours ago from Tweetie
39. “Give Kindle the Freedom of Speech”. “Don’t Disable the Kindle”.
“Print for some, audio for others”. #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout 2
hours ago from Tweetie
38. Everyone’s chanting “We want books! We want eBooks” to “Right Now”
by Van Halen. Good taste in music. #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout 2
hours ago from Tweetie
37. More signs: “We want to read”, “Make the sound decision about the
Kindle”,”Great writing deserves to be heard” #kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 2 hours ago from Tweetie
36. Ok — had major difficulties with the iPhone. Just switched to my
laptop and working through TweetDeck. #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout
2 hours ago from TweetDeck
35. Back to the protest. “What do we want; we want our books! When do we
want them? We want them now.” #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout 2 hours
ago from TweetDeck
34. The protestors are making the point that the Authors Guild only
wants people to read off a screen. #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout 2
hours ago from TweetDeck
33. Disabled, blind, and seeing are protesting together. All have signs
that express displeasure and frustration. #kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 2 hours ago from TweetDeck
32. “Don’t Disable the Kindle”. “Let America Read” “You Do Not Need to
See to Read”. “Let Kindle Speak”. Nice. #kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 2 hours ago from TweetDeck
31. The point being made now is that the Kindle2 makes thousands of
books accessible to a market of 15m. Not tiny. #kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 2 hours ago from TweetDeck
30. Another chant. “We would like to read your books, so we won’t let
you off the hook.” I think they can hear it.#kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 2 hours ago from TweetDeck
29. Interesting. Spoke with a couple from Australia in publishing that
happened to catch the protest. #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout 2
hours ago from TweetDeck
28. In the AU, consumers are legally allowed to change the format of an
eBook once, and make a copy for per. use. #kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 2 hours ago from TweetDeck
27. This is new, and was just passed there. Funny, they thought that the
Authors Guild position was silly. #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout 2
hours ago from TweetDeck
26. Another chant;kind of funny. “One, Two, Three, Four — hear us on the
7th Floor!” - The Authors Guild offices. #kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 2 hours ago from TweetDeck
25. “The Authors Guild is telling the Governor of NY that he cannot read
books that come out in eBook format.” #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout
2 hours ago from TweetDeck
24. Roy Blount of the Authors guild just texted “We are certainly not
quaking in our books, thank you very much.” #kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
23. More from Roy Blount “We got what we wanted from Amazon. As far as
we’re concerned, this case is closed.” #kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
22. Let’s just say the protesters did not like that. Everyone’s cheering
“People! United! Will never be defeated”. #kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
21. One point that’s interesting to me: this issue, legally, is about
copyright law interpretation…. #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout 1 hour
ago from TweetDeck
20. … and market protection (the audiobook market). No one is talking
about this at the protest, though. #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout 1
hour ago from TweetDeck
19. More on Roy Blount:”We are not shaking in our boots”. #kindle2
#right2read #protestabout 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
18. Protestors in Response: “You may not be quaking in your boots, but
you sure are hiding in your office”.Ouch. #kindle2 #right2read
#protest.about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
17. New chants. “Stop that Greed, we want to Read!” and “We’d all have
access sooner if not for Roy Blount Jr.” #kindle2 #right2read
#protest.about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
16. Roy’s comments apparently got everyone fired up. “Stop the Greed! We
want to Read!” #kindle2 #right2read #protest.about 1 hour ago from
TweetDeck
15. And on that note, they’re dedicating another song to the 7th Floor.
“I Won’t Back Down”by Tom Petty. #kindle2 #right2read #protest.about 1
hour ago from TweetDeck
14. Another testament from those protesting. “We want to buy books, and
read them in a manner that benefits us.” #kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
13. Ok — met a woman here who’s company makes books accessible; Her
stance was that there’s enough money for all. #kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
12. And fittingly enough, they’re back to chanting “No need for greed;
we want to read!” #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout 1 hour ago from
TweetDeck
11. More music. “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” by Fleetwood Mac.
Great tune, and fitting. 15 minutes left. #kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
10. Ok — taking a moment to organize some photos to tweet. Stay tuned.
#kindle2 #right2read #protestabout 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
9. “The Authors Guild should be real proud to have the Kindle read out
loud.” All still protesting, not wavering. #kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
8. “For the books we will pay, but we need the speech to play.” Again,
this protest is well organized and planned.#kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
7. The Authors Guild just made a statement. “Roy Blount’s statement was
not made by Roy Blount”. Hmmm. #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout 1 hour
ago from TweetDeck
6. “We don’t want to read a statement, or meet through an intermediary.
We want to meet face to face.” #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout 1 hour
ago from TweetDeck
5. This lead to a rousing chant of “Come on Down! Come on Down! Come on
Down!” Why won’t the Guild come down? #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout
1 hour ago from TweetDeck
4. “If we mis-represented Roy Blount, we apologize. We haven’t had an
opportunity to speak with him, though.” #kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
3. This is not the last of the protests; this is the first. Protests
will continue until we get our right to read.#kindle2 #right2read
#protestabout 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
2. And just like that, they transition to “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now”.
The protest is beginning to disperse. #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout
1 hour ago from TweetDeck
1. Two minutes left; the protest is about to wrap up. Wow, what a great
event. I’ll blog my summary later. #kindle2 #right2read #protestabout 1
hour ago from TweetDeck
--
James Love, Director, Knowledge Ecology International
http://www.keionline.org | mailto:james.love at keionline.org
Wk: +1.202.332.2671 | US Mobile +1.202.361.3040 | Geneva Mobile +41.76.413.6584