[bksvol-discuss] Fw: Obama Sides
- From: "Chela Robles" <cdrobles693@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:32:28 -0800
----------------
"If you go without playing the trumpet for one day, no one knows, two days,
only you know, and more than three days without practicing, girl you better
look out, because everyone will know!"
Today, I find myself constantly saying those words, just to get myself going,
to not give up, and it works. Since I learned to play the trumpet at the tender
age of 10, I have spent so much passion and much diligence with that instrument
that I will not give up on it. Sometimes my instrument puts me into awkward
situations where I feel like they won't ever end, but the trumpet gives me a
lot of hope with the majestic, crystal-clear sound it brings to my ears.
----------------
Chela Robles
E-Mail: cdrobles693@xxxxxxxxx
MSNWindowsLive Messenger: cdrobles693@xxxxxxxxxxx
Skype: jazzytrumpet
----- Original Message -----
From: haverp@xxxxxxx
To: k1000@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2009 4:28 PM
Subject: Obama Sides
Obama Sides With Blind in Copyright-Treaty Debate
By David Kravets
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/12/obama-blind-treaty/
The Obama administration announced Tuesday it supports loosening
international copyright protections to enable cross-border distribution of
special-format reading
materials for the blind, a move that puts it at odds with nearly all of U.S.
industry. The government announced its support for the underlying principle of
the
WIPO Treaty for Sharing Accessible Formats of Copyrighted Works for Persons Who
are
Blind or Have other Reading Disabilities.
The announcement was made in Geneva
(.pdf) before a subcommittee of the the World Intellectual Property
Organization, which has about 180 members.
The move comes as a broad spectrum of American enterprise, ranging from
major software makers and book publishers to motion picture and music
companies, have
opposed the proposed international treaty that would make books more accessible
to the blind.
The chief complaint is that the treaty creates a bad precedent by
loosening copyright restrictions, instead of tightening them as have every
other
international copyright treaty. "We recognize that some in the international
copyright community believe
that any international consensus on substantive limitations and exceptions to
copyright law would weaken international copyright law," Justin Hughes, a
Department of
Commerce senior adviser, told the WIPO on Tuesday. "The United States does not
share that point of view." But the administration was careful Tuesday not to
alienate U.S. industry
even as it supported the blind and visually impaired. For example, Hughes
acknowledged that
the government was willing to strengthen international copyright laws in other
regards.
"The United States is committed to both better exceptions in copyright law
and better
enforcement of copyright law," Hughes said. "Indeed, as we work with countries
to
establish consensus on proper, basic exceptions within copyright law, we will
ask
countries to work with us to improve the enforcement of copyright. This is
part and parcel of a balanced international system of intellectual property."
Toward that end, the United States is one of the lead negotiators of a
proposed international accord that the European Union suggested was too
friendly to business. A
leaked EU document connected to the Anti-Counterfeiting and Trade Agreement
suggested that the Obama administration's " overriding object" is to
"facilitate the continued development of
industry." The documents suggest the United States might want ISPs around the
world
to punish suspected, repeat downloaders with a system of "graduated response" -
code
for a three-strikes policy that results in digital copyright offenders
eventually
being disconnected from the internet, with the ISP alone deciding what
constitutes
infringement and fair use.Regarding the treaty for the blind, the proposal
would sanction the
cross-border sharing of DRM-protected digitized books - without payment to the
publisher - that tens of thousands of blind and visually disabled people read
with devices
and tools like the Pac Mate, Book Port and Victor Reader. Many WIPO nations,
most in the industrialized world including England, the United States and
Canada, have copyright exemptions that usually allow nonprofit companies to
market copyri hted works without permission. As it now stands, none of
the nations may allow persons outside their borders to access these works,
which are usually doled out for little or no charge by nonprofit groups. The
treaty seeks to free up the cross-border sharing of the books for the blind.
Usually, they are published in a universal Daisy format, which includes
features like narration and digitized Braille. It could take a year or more
before an international consensus might be reached.
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