Thank you, Ann, for forwarding this important piece of news--which actually comes from an an American Foundation for the Blind Press Release issued last month. It seems that our press release has lost its identifying information in the forward you provide. In particular, the first paragraph is missing. For the record, the original is at: http://www.afb.org/info_document_view.asp?documentid=1979 People interested in this subject might also like to see AFB's collection of documents on the same general subject which is available at: http://www.afb.org/info_document_view.asp?documentid=1820 Lastly, you may want to know that these same principles affirming equal access to information, despite anti-copying technology, have been affirmed just a few days ago by the World Summitt on the Information Society (WSIS), a United Nations sponsored conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Key documents from this conference can be found at: http://www.dinf.ne.jp/doc/english/prompt/031211wsis.html Ann Parsons writes: > From: Ann Parsons <akp at eznet.net> > > Hi all, > > I saw this on the ACBNY list and thought it was worth publishing. > > Ann P. > > > > New Librarian of Congress Ruling Gains Access to eBooks for People With > Visual Impairments WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 -- > > The Librarian of Congress issued a ruling supporting the right of people who > are blind or partially sighted to gain full access to electronic books > (eBooks). The ruling provides an exemption to the 1998 Digital Millennium > Copyright Act (DMCA), making it legal to circumvent any encrypted or > protected features that render the text inaccessible for the specialized > computer technologies used by people who are visually impaired to read > electronic text. > "This ruling upholds the fundamental right to read for all people," said > Carl Augusto, President of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). > "The emerging electronic book technologies have the potential to make > published information more accessible and usable to people with visual > impairments. By removing barriers to utilizing eBooks, the Library ensured > all people can continue to enjoy the benefits of progress." > > This ruling is the result of a concerted advocacy effort by AFB involving > testimony and evidence to show that approximately 50 percent of currently > published eBooks are inaccessible for people who are blind or partially > sighted. > > "This is a major victory, but there is more work to do," > continued Augusto. "AFB will continue to work with Congress, the Librarian > and publishers to ensure future titles are fully accessible for people with > visual impairments." DMCA, which became U.S. law in 1998, makes it a felony > to develop or use technology to get around security provisions of various > classes of intellectual property including software, ebooks, DVD movies and > audio, among others. > > The Librarian's ruling provides an exemption for: "Literary works > distributed in eBook format when all existing eBook editions of the work > (including digital text editions made available by authorized entities) > contain access controls that prevent the enabling of the eBook's read-aloud > function and the enabling of screen readers to render the text into a > specialized format." Additional information about the DMCA and on this > ruling, including copies of all testimony, can be found on line at, > http://www.copyright.gov/1201/. > > > > -- > Ann K. Parsons > email: akp at eznet.net > WEB SITE: http://home.eznet.net/~akp > "All that is gold does not glitter. > Not all those who wander are lost." JRRT > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup -- Janina Sajka Email: janina at rednote.net Phone: (202) 408-8175 Director, Technology Research and Development American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) http://www.afb.org Chair, Accessibility Work Group Free Standards Group http://accessibility.freestandards.org
