that's really stupid talk about samsung being a dumbass. 
Aaron Linson
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me
Once an Eagle
Always an Eagle

On Feb 23, 2013, at 1:55 AM, David Chittenden <[email protected]> wrote:

> 
>> Subject: VoiceOver threatened by Samsung
>> Reply-To: Blind Democracy Discussion List <[email protected]>
>> 
>> Even if Samsung does not succeed in their action, the very fact they've even 
>> tried it guarantees I will never buy a Samsung product. 
>> And to think Samsung was instrumental in establishing the guide dog school 
>> in Korea. 
>> Unconscionable. 
>> Alice 
>> Samsun    g struggles to block iPhone function for the blindBy Leo Kelion
>> 
>> Technology reporter
>> 
>>   The VoiceOver function is designed to help 
>> blind and partially sighted consumers use the 
>> iPhone Samsung has suffered a setback in its 
>> effort to win an iPhone ban based on a function 
>> making its software accessible to blind people.
>> 
>> The South Korean firm had sought an injunction in 
>> a German court arguing Apple's VoiceOver 
>> screen-access facility infringed one of its patents.
>> 
>> However, the judge has ordered the case to be 
>> suspended pending another ruling that could invalidate Samsung's claim.
>> 
>> Disability campaigners had expressed concern about the case.
>> 
>> Apple's VoiceOver function is used by blind and 
>> partially-sighted people to hear a description of 
>> what the iPhone is showing by touching its screen.
>> 
>> The software covers text and icons including 
>> audio descriptions of the battery level and 
>> network signal. It also allows the phones to be 
>> operated via Braille-based add-ons.
>> 
>> Samsung had argued that Apple had failed to 
>> licence a patent it owned which describes 
>> pressing a button to make a handset describe its 
>> display. The basis for this was that VoiceOver 
>> could be switched on by triple-clicking the iPhone's home button.
>> 
>> Apple declined to comment.
>> 
>> A statement from Samsung said: "For decades, we 
>> have heavily invested in pioneering the 
>> development of technological innovations in the 
>> mobile industry, which have been constantly reflected in our products.
>> 
>> "We continue to believe that Apple has infringed 
>> our patented mobile technologies, and we will 
>> continue to take the measures necessary to 
>> protect our intellectual property rights."
>> 
>> 'Regrettable in the extreme'
>> 
>> Patent consultant Florian Muller, who was first 
>> to report the Mannheim Court's decision, questioned Samsung's tactics.
>> 
>> "If Samsung had only requested monetary 
>> compensation in this action, it would have made a 
>> much better choice than by trying to achieve, 
>> through the pursuit of an injunction, the 
>> deactivation or (more realistically) degradation 
>> of the voiceover functionality Apple provides to 
>> its German customers," he wrote on his blog.
>> 
>> The British Computer Association of the Blind 
>> said it was worried such an important feature might be threatened.
>> 
>> "A lack of access to information is arguably the 
>> biggest potential barrier to inclusion in society 
>> for blind and partially-sighted people," a spokesman told the BBC.
>> 
>> "If something as important as access to telephone 
>> technology had been blocked by the actions of one 
>> company over another the consequences for blind 
>> people everywhere would be regrettable in the extreme."
>> 
>> The Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD tech site was more damning.
>> 
>> "Leaving aside the ethics of asserting a patent 
>> against a feature designed to help the blind, 
>> this is unwise," wrote John Paczkowski.
>> 
>> "It's the PR equivalent of punching yourself in 
>> the face. Samsung has now identified itself as a 
>> company willing to accept the loss of 
>> accessibility for the vision-impaired as 
>> collateral damage in its battle with Apple."
>> 
>> Apple and Samsung have fought a number of patent 
>> cases against each other in courts across the world.
>> 
>> The biggest award involved a US jury ordering 
>> Samsung to pay Apple $1.05bn (£688m) in damages. 
>> The judge in the case later rejected Apple's call 
>> for the sum to be increased and a sales ban on some Samsung handsets.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Blind-Democracy mailing list
>> [email protected]
>> http://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
> 
> 
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