[blindkid] I thought this is very important to share on this list

[hpscheffer at aol.com]

                 Books Without Borders copyright treaty

Dear Friends,

In less than two weeks, representatives of almost 
two hundred countries will meet in Marrakesh, 
Morocco, to consider adopting a treaty that will 
make it legally possible for printed copyrighted 
materials­like books, magazines, textbooks, and 
job training courses­to be converted to formats 
that the blind and print disabled can use AND, 
critically, for those accessible materials to be 
easily shared across national boundaries for the 
first time in history.   Successfully negotiating 
this treaty is, therefore, vital to all blind and 
print-disabled people, their families, friends, 
educators, and employers the world over.   For 
tens of millions around the world desperately 
trying to learn and earn themselves out of 
crushing poverty and social isolation, it may 
actually mean the difference between a life of 
hope and opportunity or one of misery and despair.

Unfortunately, enormously powerful 
corporations­mostly in the United States and the 
European Union­recently have made clear their 
intention to block adoption of the treaty, or to 
make it so complicated and burdensome for the 
providers of accessible materials that the 
treaty’s goal of ending the worldwide “book 
famine” for the blind will be thwarted.  You have the power to stop them.

             Please, take just a few minutes 
today in front of a video camera and tell us 
about yourself, your struggles to obtain books 
and other materials and what the treaty would 
mean to you or someone you care about.  Just 
follow the few easy steps below, and your 
testimony will be seen by scores of journalists, 
hundreds of delegates to the treaty conference in 
Marrakesh, and by millions of internet users around the globe.

I have recorded my own video, and I am sending 
this appeal to you, because  I firmly believe 
that every voice really does have the opportunity 
to make a decisive difference in this case. Most 
of the appeal efforts against the corporate 
opposition are also coming from the U.S., but 
here's a chance for voices from around the world, 
all of whom represent those effected, to be heard.

  Please take just a few moments to tell the 
chairmen and CEOs of some of the world’s biggest 
companies to drop their opposition to a treaty 
that doesn't legally affect them, but means 
everything to you.  Please do it today!  Here’s how . . .

             ***Books Without Borders copyright TREATY
  APPEAL VIDEO STEP-BY-STEP***

Your video absolutely should be in your own 
words!  Please follow these easy step-by step 
suggestions and brief outline for your comments, 
however, so that we can effectively merge your 
video story with others’ for the highest impact:

1.  Find a quiet place to record so we can hear 
everything you say.  Outdoors is fine, but windy 
or noisy locations should be avoided;

2.  Stand or sit as far from the camera as it 
takes for just your head and body above the waist 
to be seen on camera.  Closer or further won't be as helpful;

3. Please have pity on the video editor, and 
deliver your appeal in English. Children and 
youth delivering their appeal are enthusiastically invited.

4.  You may start with this “lead-in,” 
please:  “My name is _______ and I live in 
___(City, State/province, country).  I strongly 
support the Books Without Borders copyright treaty.”

5.  Then, please tell us what kind of print 
disability you (or the family member or friend you’re speaking about) have;

6.  Briefly explain what kind of books or other 
materials you (or they) would like to be able to 
get but can't, and what having those materials 
would mean to you. Anything important to your 
education, job training, hobbies, etc.,  is important!


7. Finally, to end your video, please record a 
brief personal appeal aimed directly at the 
powerful chief executives whose companies are 
leading sophisticated coalition efforts to block the Marrakesh treaty.
Your voice  will be echoed around the world:

Please indicate by name each of the CEOs:
Mr. Immelt of General Electric [CEO name pronounced “Im” like image + “melt”]

Mr. Narayen of Adobe [CEO name pronounced “Na – 
rye (as in the name Ryan or the word fleisch auf Deutch) – in”]

Mr. Tillerson of Exxon Mobil

Your appeal may go something like this, but in your own words:

I need a strong Books Without Borders copyright 
treaty to obtain books and printed material that 
I can read, as others read.  Almost 300 million 
people around the world need it even more.  The 
companies you run are blocking the availability 
of books and printed materials for the blind in 
the Marrakesh convention. As CEOs of your 
respective companies, you can stop your companies 
from being an obstacle to one of the biggest 
social changes in modern history.  Please stop this NOW!

Please send your video to Jessica Freeh, Public 
Relations Specialist, National Federation of the Blind, at:
  <mailto:jfreeh at nfb.org>jfreeh at nfb.org

You can simply email your video to the email 
address above, or you can use a file sharing 
option, which we will explain shortly. The 
simplest is to just email it as an attachment. 
However, depending on the size of the file, you 
may get an error message. Feel free to try it, anyway.

If you'd rather use a file sharing option, you 
may already have your favorite way to do this. 
Feel free to email the link to your file to 
Jessica at the email address above. If
you don't know about file sharing and need to use 
it to get the file to Jeseca, see below.

About File Sharing:

If you do not know about file sharing, and you 
are getting an error message trying to email your 
file, or if Jessica isn't receiving it for some 
reason, we have found that RapidShare is a free 
and easy way to share files. please follow the 
steps below. We've included information if you are either sighted or blind:

For the Sighted:

Load your internet browser
Type in rapidshare.com, or click http://www.rapidshare.com
The RapidShare home page will load.

*Note: If you Click on ‘Mobile Site’ at the 
bottom of any RapidShare.com webpage, this  will 
put the website into a format that may be more 
straightforward if you feel you are having 
difficulty making sense of the page that initially loads.

You will need to register yourself, so that RapidShare knows who you are.
Click enter on the link which says, ‘Register’
Fill out all of the requested information, and 
check the radio button which says that you want a Free account
Once you’ve submitted the information, go to your email to confirm your account
*Note: When registering, there might be an item 
which says, “I accept the Terms and Conditions
” 
– click here to activate the button, and then click Continue

*Note: Once you return to RapidShare.com, you may 
need to Sign In again. Do this through the link labeled ‘Sign In.’
In the edit field labeled ‘Username’
Type in your username
In the next edit field
Type in your password
Hit enter

Now, you have to upload your video file to RapidShare:

*Uploading a file:
Once at your account at the RapidShare.com 
website, once you've signed in with your 
registration information, click the "browse" button
This will open a list of folders that are on your 
computer. Click on the name of the folder where 
your video file is. It may be on your desktop. 
Then, when you see the name of your video, click 
on that file name. It will begin uploading.

Now, you need to share a link to your file with Jessica.

*To share your uploaded files:
Once you’ve signed into your account at the 
RapidShare.com website, click on File Manager
You'll see a list of numbers and file names.
click on the file name you wish to share, which 
will be the name you gave your video file.

You’ll then see a list of options of things you 
can do with your file, click on the one you want
If you want to send the file to someone as an 
email, which would be Jessica in this case, 
you’ll click the "send" option, and then click 
email. It will ask you for the email address. 
Then, it will send a link to the file to that 
email address. If you enter Jessica's email 
address, she will receive a link to your file, and she'll know what to do.

Thanks so much for your help. It will benefit you 
and millions of blind people across the world.

Below are instructions for sharing a file if you are blind:

Using RapidShare.Com with JAWS or NVDA on a Windows Computer

Load your internet browser
Hit alt+D to access the address bar
Type in rapidshare.com, or click http://www.rapidshare.com
*Note: Clicking on ‘Mobile Site’ at the bottom of 
any RapidShare.com webpage will put the website 
into a fully accessible format, but will change 
most links to clickable items, meaning that you 
use only your arrow keys instead of finding things through the links menu

You'll need to register, so RapidShare knows who you are.

*To register on RapidShare.com
Open your links menu
Type R for register
Click enter on the link which says, ‘Register’
Down arrow until you come to the first question
Fill out all of the requested information, and 
check the radio button which says that you want a Free account
Once you’ve submitted the information, go to your email to confirm your account
*Note: When registering, there might be a 
clickable item which says, “I accept the Terms 
and Conditions
” – Spacebar here to activate the 
button, and then click Continue
*Note: Once you return to RapidShare.com, you may 
need to Sign In again. Do this through the link labeled ‘Sign In.’
Now hit E for edit, and it will take you to the edit field labeled ‘Username’
Type in your username
Hit tab to enter the next edit field
Type in your password
Hit enter

You'll now need to upload the video file you've created to RapidShare.

*Uploading a file:
 From anywhere in your account at the 
RapidShare.com website, once you've signed in, type B for button
You’ll hear the words, “Browse dot dot dot,’ click enter

You'll get a list of folders on your computer. 
Open the folder your file is in. It may be on 
your desktop. Then, just click on the file name, 
which is the name you gave your video.
Your file will begin uploading.
*Note: Once you click enter to upload your chosen 
file, you will not hear a confirmation noise, 
however the file did successfully upload to the website

You now need to share a link to your file with Jeseca.

*To view your uploaded files:
 From anywhere in the RapidShare.com website, 
open your links menu, and click F for, ‘File Manager’
Click enter on File Manager
Down arrow until you hear a list of numbers and file names
Enter on the file name you wish to access, which 
will be the name of your video.

You’ll see a list of options of things you can do 
with your file, enter on the one you want
If you want to send the file to someone as an 
email, you’ll click send, down arrow, and then click email
It will give you a place to write Jeseca's email 
address. Then, it will email her a link to your file. She'll know what to do.

Thanks so much for your help. It will not only 
benefit you, but millions of blind people around the world.

If you have any questions, please contact Jessica 
or Chris Danielsen, public relations officer of 
the National Federation of the Blind:
CDanielsen at nfb.org
or myself, and one of us will get back to you. 
This matter is being address by and through the 
National Federation of the Blind, but I feel we 
have a broad and strong enough network to make a 
difference. They were very excited when I 
indicated that we had access to articulate and 
passionate voices  around the world.

. Thank you once again
Danie   l