Don't know if this is the second time you're getting this, but I hope for international accessibility. Regards, Kim Friedman. -----Original Message----- From: Alan Dicey [mailto:adicey@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 7:54 AM To: Undisclosed-Recipient:; Subject: Treaty for Blind people will allow access to more books! If USA ... European Blind Union Press release Paris, November 26, 2012 WIPO Negotiations Treaty for Blind people Talks in the balance: EU backs treaty leaving USA isolated Geneva, 25.11.2012 - A four year UN negotiation on a new World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaty for people who are blind or have other print disabilities hangs in the balance. Will the world seize the opportunity to make it legal for blind people to share books across borders? WBU delegates attended the negotiations which took place between 19 and 23 November in Geneva. WBU said that negotiators from all parts of the world worked hard on the treaty in SCCR25 and they welcomed this. WBU delegates were also cheered by the EU declaration on the first day of the session that it is now willing to back a binding treaty. The EU had vehemently opposed a treaty not long ago, so this is a very significant result of the advocacy of users and the European Parliament on this matter. Dan Pescod, who leads WBU's European campaign for the treaty, explained: "We have campaigned for years with hundreds of members of the European Parliament to get EU backing for a treaty. This is a significant and welcome step forward, but the EU needs now to ensure it supports the human rights of blind people to access information. It should do this by negotiating a simple and workable treaty." The USA delegation still has not pronounced the word "treaty" at these negotiations. It is now the only major negotiator not to do so. WBU pointed out this fact on the last day of the meeting in their closing remarks. Maryanne Diamond, leader of the WBU delegation, commented: "I had to point out the omission of the word "treaty" from the warm words of the US head of delegation. The USA has had time decide its position on a treaty- it is now high time it made its support clear". With the WIPO "Extraordinary General Assembly" in three week's time tasked with agreeing the nature of the new law (treaty or non-binding soft law), the nature of that law is a pressing concern for disability activists. Historically, WIPO only deals in treaties to protect publishers' rights. WBU is urging negotiators to afford them the same level of protection for the human rights of blind people. Some negotiators, including a few EU member states, still seem to be pushing issues which deal more with rights holder concerns than those of the blind and print disabled people this treaty is supposed to serve. Rahul Cherian, from Indian WBU member Inclusive Planet, said: "The objective of this treaty must be that of helping blind and print disabled people to get accessible format books, especially in developing countries. To achieve this goal, it must be workable, simply worded and effective for blind and print disabled people and their organizations to use. The heart of the treaty is cross-border sharing of works. We will push hard to ensure that the provisions on this matter are clear and simple." Chris Friend, head of WBU's Right to Read campaign, added: "We need those provisions to clearly permit cross-border sharing of accessible books both between organisations and directly from organisations to blind or print disabled individuals. We reject complicated requirements for checks on whether the books are commercially available. Such procedures would sacrifice the usability of the treaty on the altar of publisher reassurance." Friend further commented: "We are hopeful that the negotiations will still lead to a binding and useful treaty in 2013. The goodwill exists to get the job done. The momentum of the recent negotiations must not be lost." Background An end to the "book famine" Even in 2012, blind people and others living with a print disability such as those with dyslexia still have very limited access to books. Only some 7% of published books are ever made accessible (in formats such as Braille, audio and large print) in the richest countries, and less than 1% in poorer ones. This is a "book famine". An international treaty for blind people The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) makes treaties and other international laws on copyright Back in 2009 the World Blind Union, Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay proposed a WIPO treaty to help relieve the book famine in which fewer than 1% of books are published accessibly in developing countries, and only some 7% in the most developed. Briefly, the new treaty would: Allow specialist organizations to make accessible copies of books in all signatory countries Make it legal to send accessible books across national borders Still respect copyright law: it is not an attack on publishers! Make more books available for blind people About WBU The World Blind Union (WBU) is the internationally recognized organization, representing the 285 million blind and partially sighted persons in 190 member countries. We are the Voice of the Blind, speaking to governments and international bodies on issues concerning blindness and visual impairments in conjunction with our members. For further information, please visit: www.worldblindunion.org Contacts Chris Friend, Chair, WBU right to read campaign cfriend@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx +44 7919 552 170 Dan Pescod, Vice Chair, WBU right to read campaign Dan.pescod@xxxxxxxxxxx +44 207 391 2009 _______________________________________________ With Best Regards, Alan Dicey Miami, Florida Join a Free voice Chat Community on the Web! Hey Folks! Would you like to have lots of fun and meet other blind or visually impaired individuals from across the country and around the world? Do you like challenging games, old time radio, adaptive cooking techniques, book clubs, chess instruction, product presentations, real time technical assistance with your computer, and lots and lots more? If this is what you are looking for, join us at, Out-Of-Sight! We offer over 30 different Chat Rooms with something for everyone! This site is made up of the most friendly and courteous folks you are likely to meet on the net! The Out-Of-Sight community is made up of a set of free voice chat rooms that are extremely user friendly, and all you need is a microphone to get started! To become a member and join our Out-Of-Sight free chat community go to the website, at, www.out-of-sight.net If you have any questions or need assistance logging in, please contact, webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx We hope to see you soon! "Catch the vision--it's Out of Sight!" To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list of available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.