[blindlaw] Informational Picketing Against Authors Guild in NewYork City

[E.J. Zufelt]

Good morning,

My concern with this action is whether or not the opinion expressed is  
representative of NFB membership.  I for one believe that Amazon is  
well within their reasonable right to block this functionality from  
titles on their site to perserve the authors rights to their  
intellectual property.

Perhaps a better approach would be for Amazon to be required to make  
an unlocked version of the texts available to individuals who register  
as text impaired.  Understandably this method would have several  
problems that would have to be negotiated between all concerned parties.

Just my two cents,
Everett


On 28-Mar-09, at 4:36 AM, <ckrugman at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> If the legislative alert system previously discussed on this list  
> hade been implemented members from all over the country could  
> respond with emails or faxes to the Authors Guild to address this  
> issue. This would be much more effective then to expect Federations  
> spending hundreds of dollars on plain fare and hotel accommodations  
> for this cause. While the information definitely needs to be  
> provided there are much more effective ways for this to be done.
> Charles L. Krugman, M.S.W., ParalegalPresident,
> NFB of California Central Valley Chapter
> 1237 P Street
> Fresno ca 93721
> 559-266-9237
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Andrews" <dandrews at visi.com>
> To: <david.andrews at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 1:40 PM
> Subject: [blindlaw] Informational Picketing Against Authors Guild in  
> NewYork City
>
>
>
> >From Chris Danielson:
>
> Dear Fellow Federationists:
>
> As you may already know, Amazon, Inc. released the newest version of  
> its
>
> e-book reader, the Kindle, on February 9 of this year.  The Kindle 2
>
> includes a feature that allows e-books downloaded to it to be read  
> aloud.
>
> The Authors Guild has objected to this feature because it believes  
> these
>
> e-books are licensed only for visual display, and under pressure  
> from the
>
> Guild, Amazon has decided to allow authors and publishers to decide  
> which
>
> books can be read aloud by this device.  Naturally, this is a blow  
> to blind
>
> people and others with print disabilities who can benefit from the
>
> text-to-speech feature and who would love to be able to purchase  
> books and
>
> start reading them immediately for the first time in history.  For  
> this
>
> reason the National Federation of the Blind has joined with other
>
> organizations representing people who cannot use print effectively  
> to fight
>
> the Authors Guild.
>
> We plan to kick off our public education campaign to increase public
>
> pressure on the Authors Guild to reverse its stance with an  
> informational
>
> protest in front of the Guild's headquarters in New York City.  This  
> picket
>
> will take place on Tuesday, April 7, from noon until 2:00 p.m.  I am  
> writing
>
> to you in hopes that you can organize members to come to this  
> protest.  A
>
> number of Federationists from Maryland are coming and we expect
>
> participation from other organizations in the coalition, but it  
> would be
>
> very helpful if those of you with easy access to New York City would  
> help us
>
> by providing more picketers.  It is extremely important that we make a
>
> strong impression on the Authors Guild and the media so that our  
> message
>
> will be heard.
>
> In the next few days you will receive more communications with  
> additional
>
> logistical details, as well as more information about our position and
>
> suggestions on how to respond to questions from the media.  In the  
> meantime,
>
> if you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact  
> me.  As
>
> soon as you have an idea of how many people may be able to come to  
> this
>
> event, please provide that information to John Paré by calling  
> 410-659-9314,
>
> ext. 2227, or by e-mailing jpare at nfb.org.  Thank you for your  
> assistance in
>
> this important matter.
>
> Sincerely:
>
> Chris Danielsen
>
> Christopher S. Danielsen
>
> Director of Public Relations
>
> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
>
>
> David Andrews and white cane Harry.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindlaw mailing list
> blindlaw at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info  
> for blindlaw:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/ckrugman%40sbcglobal.net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindlaw mailing list
> blindlaw at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info  
> for blindlaw:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/everett%40zufelt.ca