----- Original Message ----- From: "Parker at Vip conduit" <[email protected]> To: "VIP Announce List" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 10:58 AM Subject: [Vip announce] Action Needed To Protect Access Rights of Blind ToLiterature
> We feel that since this will affect all of us it should be brought to the > attention of Everybody. > Action Needed To Protect Access Rights of Blind To Literature > USA,Canada and the EU attempt to kill treaty to protect blind people's > access to > written material USA, Canada and the EU attempt to kill treaty to protect > blind people's > access to written material Posted by Cory Doctorow, May 29, 2009 1:52 AM | > permalink Right now, in Geneva, at the UN's World Intellectual Property > Organization, > history is being made. For the first time in WIPO history, the body that > creates > the world's copyright treaties is attempting to write a copyright treaty > dedicated > to protecting the interests of copyright users, not just copyright owners. > At issue > is a treaty to protect the rights of blind people and people with other > disabilities > that affect reading (people with dyslexia, people who are paralyzed or > lack arms > or hands for turning pages), introduced by Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay. > This should > be a slam dunk: who wouldn't want a harmonized system of copyright > exceptions that > ensure that it's possible for disabled people to get access to the written > word? > The USA, that's who. The Obama administration's negotiators have joined > with a rogue's > gallery of rich country trade representatives to oppose protection for > blind people. > Other nations and regions opposing the rights of blind people include > Canada and > the EU. > Update: Also opposing rights for disabled people: Australia, New Zealand, > the Vatican > and Norway. > Update 2: Countries that are on the right side of this include, "Latin > American and > Caribbean region including (Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Jamaica) as well as > Asia and > Africa." > Update 3: Canada is upset with me. That's fine, I'm upset with Canada. > Activists at WIPO are desperate to get the word out. They're tweeting > madly from > the negotiation (technically called the 18th session of the Standing > Committee on > Copyright and Related Rights) publishing editorials on the Huffington > Post, etc. > Here's where you come in: this has to get wide exposure, to get cast as > broadly as > possible, so that it will find its way into the ears of the obscure > power-brokers > who control national trade-negotiators. > I don't often ask readers to do things like this, but please, forward this > post to > people you know in the US, Canada and the EU, and ask them to reblog, > tweet, and > spread the word, especially to government officials and activists who work > on disabled > rights. We know that WIPO negotiations can be overwhelmed by citizen > activists -- > that's how we killed the Broadcast Treaty negotiation a few years back -- > and with > your help, we can make history, and create a world where copyright law > protects the > public interest. > I am attending a meeting in Geneva of the World Intellectual Property > Organization > (WIPO). This evening the United States government, in combination with > other high > income countries in "Group B" is seeking to block an agreement to discuss > a treaty > for persons who are blind or have other reading disabilities. The proposal > for a > treaty is supported by a large number of civil society NGOs, the World > Blind Union, > the National Federation of the Blind in the US, the International DAISY > Consortium, > Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D), Bookshare.Org, and groups > representing > persons with reading disabilities all around the world. > The main aim of the treaty is to allow the cross-border import and export > of digital > copies of books and other copyrighted works in formats that are accessible > to persons > who are blind, visually impaired, dyslexic or have other reading > disabilities, using > special devices that present text as refreshable braille, computer > generated text > to speech, or large type. These works, which are expensive to make, are > typically > created under national exceptions to copyright law that are specifically > written > to benefit persons with disabilities... > The opposition from the United States and other high income countries is > due to intense > lobbying from a large group of publishers that oppose a "paradigm shift," > where treaties > would protect consumer interests, rather than expand rights for copyright > owners. > The Obama Administration was lobbied heavily on this issue, including > meetings with > high level White House officials. Assurances coming into the negotiations > this week > that things were going in the right direction have turned out to be false, > as the > United States delegation has basically read from a script written by > lobbyists for > publishers, extolling the virtues of market based solutions, ignoring > mountains of > evidence of a "book famine" and the insane legal barriers to share works. > Source: > http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/29/usa-canada-and-the-e.html > This is an announce only list. > To unsubscribe from VIP Announce, copy the line below. Paste it into a > blank message > and send it. > [email protected] > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Access the Recipes And More list archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/recipesandmore%40googlegroups.com/ Visit the group home page at: http://groups.google.com/group/RecipesAndMore -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
