Yep, there was, indeed, a legal threat from Nuance distributors (I incorrectly recalled the issue as related to Via Voice). Of course, a legal threat does not necessarily mean a valid or enforceable one, but it is notheworthy and deserving of caution. I find it unfortunate that Nuance has apparently not been willing to work out a practical pricing arrangement with the NVDA project.
Jamal On 8/24/2011 10:31 AM, Jamal Mazrui wrote:
I may stand corrected then. I recalled that as a different issue, but will review that material again. Thanks for the info. Jamal On 8/24/2011 10:24 AM, Michael Taboada (AI5HF) wrote:Hi, I knowin the blog post I tlinked to earlier, that they included a letter from the Italian distributer for Nuance products (including eloquence), and it said if this doesn't stop we'll be force to use legal means if necessary. Hth, -Michael. AI5HF http://mtgames.org/ http://u4u.be/ http://michael-taboada.org/ http://AI5HF.org/ http://the-status.net/ and http://the-stat.us/ Skype: lilmike2 Gmail: ai5hf.lilmike@xxxxxxxxx msn: ai5hf@xxxxxxxxxxx Twitter: http://twitter.com/MWTab PC details: Intel quad core 2.66 ghz; 4 gb duel channel ddr2 ram; 1 TB harddrive. "The songs of the dead are the lamentations of the living." -- Christopher Paolini, Eldest. "A world that contained a creature as amazing as that bumblebee was a world he wanted to live in." -- Christopher Paolini, Brisingr. -------------------------------------------------- From: "Jamal Mazrui" <empower@xxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 8:51 AM To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: "Ken Perry" <whistler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: Re: NVDA and EloquenceTrue, but that would not stop them making legal threats. I am asking because FS generally does not have a problem initiating law suits, so if the company has not said anything on this matter, perhaps people are worrying about something that is not actually a problem. Jamal On 8/24/2011 9:39 AM, Ken Perry wrote:Well I doubt it they would first have to catcht them and since most people don't give access to either of them to your computer it would be hard for them to catch you. ken -----Original Message----- From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jamal Mazrui Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 9:02 AM To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Cc: Alex Hall Subject: Re: NVDA and Eloquence Does anyone know whether either Freedom Scientific or Nuance have threatened legal action if a blind individual uses NVDA with Eloquence? Jamal On 8/24/2011 8:16 AM, Jamal Mazrui wrote:Thanks, Alex. Since posting my previous message on this topic, someone sent me the following link to a blog post on the NVDA site: http://www.nvda-project.org/blog/NVDAAndEloquenceSituation I am still interested in further discussion if anyone has additional information or perspective. Jamal On 8/24/2011 7:57 AM, Alex Hall wrote:My understanding is that it is not illegal. The illegal part is the step many take to accomplish it, loading an illegal dll to provide Eloquence speech. This dll is from the makers of Eloquence, but is passed around the internet for free, even though the makers should be getting their royalty for every time it is used. In fact, there is a survey by NVDA makers to determine interest in providing Eloquence for NVDA (at a cost). Of course, that would be perfectly legal, since NV Access would pay for the distribution rights, then recoop the cost from users' paying the one-time fee for Eloquence under their copy of NVDA. On 8/24/11, Jamal Mazrui<empower@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:I am trying to understand the legal issues around use of NVDA with the Eloquence speech installed with JAWS. I have heard that it is technically easy to make this work, thereby substantially improving the NVDA experience. On the blind-mozilla list, however, it was stated that this is absolutely illegal to do, and even discussion of the topic was prohibited on the list. I did not realize this was such a controversial topic, but trust that we can at least discuss it here, being careful as appropriate not to encourage particular actions. As I think we know, just because a company says that some activity is an impermissible use of software does not make it so. For example, I have heard of the "Jailbreak" issue with the iPhone, and that this has been deemed legal by an authoritative body, despite initial protests by a company. Am I understanding that right? So, I am interested in any official statement that asserts the illegality of using Eloquence with NVDA. Can someone point me to a web page? Please understand that I am not encouraging such activity, especially since my knowledge of the topic is limited at present. I do think, however, that if people are being told that something is absolutely illegal that they deserve some kind of authoritative reference for that assertion, given the corresponding implication that one would be a criminal to do so. 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