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Thanks and regards Vibhu Sharma On 7/24/12, avinash shahi <[email protected]> wrote: > 23 July 2012 > WASHINGTON -- > > The Obama administration is blocking the creation of an international > treaty designed to protect access to books and reading material for > blind people in poor countries. > > The administration's move to stall the treaty comes after President > Barack Obama vowed to support an "international instrument" to ensure > the global blind population has access to reading materials. Advocates > for the blind are strongly in favor of the treaty, while corporate > publishers, who profit from the global status quo, are opposed. > > Negotiations are currently taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, before > a United Nations panel, and are scheduled to conclude on Wednesday. > Nonprofit organizations representing the interests of the blind say > the American delegation has been effective in negotiating substantive > provisions in the pact that would help people living with > disabilities. But they say the U.S. is balking at efforts to make > those provisions part of a binding international treaty. Instead, the > U.S. is seeking a non-binding slate of policy recommendations, which > advocates for the blind worry would not effectively remove barriers to > educational reading materials that are currently in place. > > "We absolutely support a treaty," said Melanie Brunson, executive > director of the American Council of the Blind, in an interview from > Geneva with Knowledge Ecology International, another nonprofit group > devoted to greater global access to information. "We believe that > that's really the only way to ensure that countries will know it's > important, and it's not just something they can sort of do, or do > voluntarily, or do parts of." > > Although the talks are not well-known domestically, both corporate > publishers and advocates for people living with disabilities view it > as a landmark treaty. Media that are accessible to the blind, like > Braille works and audiobooks, are far more costly to create and > distribute than traditional print publications, and feature a much > smaller market. Many nations have specific copyright exceptions > protecting such works, exempting their producers from having to pay > costly royalties to publishers. But poor countries still have very > limited resources to produce works for the blind, and thus have > extremely limited libraries. An international treaty would make it > easier for wealthier nations, like the United States, to share works > with other countries. > > "The treaty is essential to allow us to expand and serve the world," > said Jim Fruchterman, founder of Bookshare, an online nonprofit > American library with over 150,000 titles for the blind. Bookshare > titles are available for free to U.S. schools and U.S. students, but > not to citizens of developing nations. "In a lot of the developing > world, the entire library might be 20 or 30 books," said Fruchterman. > > The treaty would expand access to reading materials for the blind by > establishing a specific exemption to traditional copyright standards > for alternative publishing formats that benefit the blind and people > with visual impairments. American publishers are generally supportive > of the provision. Allen Adler, a top lobbyist with the Association of > American Publishers, helped craft such a domestic U.S. law to > accomplish exactly that. But publishers are concerned that finalizing > an official treaty, instead of a nonbinding slate of policy > recommendations, will establish a new intellectual property precedent > that could cut into profits in other areas. > > > "We really don't want to establish a precedent on a series of treaties > that specifically focus on trying to set forth minimal limitations and > exceptions to the rights of copyright owners," Adler told KEI in > Geneva. "Up until now ... the treaties and other international > agreements that have been devised ... have been to establish the > minimal rights available to copyright owners, not the limitations and > exceptions to those rights." > > A treaty would explicitly require countries to establish new copyright > protections for publications for the blind. Violating the treaty would > subject nations to international sanctions. A less formal statement of > policy would simply put a U.N. stamp of approval on permitting nations > to reach their own individual accords on new standards. Countries have > always been permitted to reach deals with each other on sharing > materials to benefit the blind, but few are doing any actual work on > the issue. There is no legislation pending in the American Congress to > allow the U.S. to share such works with other nations. The blind > community has been advocating for such legislation since the 1980s. > > The Obama administration's delegation for the treaty talks is being > led by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which declined to comment > for this article. It also includes members of the Office of the U.S. > Trade Representative, a White House body responsible for negotiating > international trade pacts. USTR also declined to comment. > > In April, Obama met with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to discuss > a host of international trade issues, and issued a joint statement > supporting an "effective" international deal to support the blind, but > did not specify whether an effective deal would be a formal treaty or > a more informal agreement. > > "The Presidents reaffirmed the commitment of both countries to the > conclusion of an effective international instrument in the World > Intellectual Property Organization that ensures that copyright is not > a barrier to equal access to information, culture, and education for > visually impaired persons and persons with print disabilities," the > statement read. > Source: > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/obama-blind-treaty_n_1695363.html?1343064474&utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false > > > -- > You can join my Google Group: 'World Opinion' > https://groups.google.com/group/worldopinion/about?hl=en > Avinash Shahi > M.A. Political Science > CPS JNU > New Delhi India > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. 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