[Dtb-talk] National Federation of the Blind Responds toAuthorsGuild Statement on the Amazon Kindle 2

Fri Feb 13 16:21:42 UTC 2009

A kindle is a portable device that displays electronic books.  You buy
a Kindle from Amazon, and then you can download books from amazon to
load on the Kindle and read.

As of now, the Kindle isn't usable by blind folks at all.

Apparently, the next version of the Kindle will have an option to use
TTS to read the book aloud, which the Author's Guild is objecting to.
Further, it seems that even if the book can be read aloud, it still
isn't usable by blind folks because the controls are only visual.

Just to cover myself, I haven't yet seen the new Kindle, I am
inferring all this from our response to the press release.

Jim

On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 10:26:34AM -0500, Anthony Vece wrote:
>   Pardon my ignorance but, what is Kindle and, how does it differ from 
> NLS or Bookshare.
>
> Thanks
>
>
> Anthony
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Wurtzel" <f.wurtzel at comcast.net>
> To: "'Discussion of Digital Talking Books'" <dtb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 9:37 AM
> Subject: Re: [Dtb-talk] National Federation of the Blind Responds  
> toAuthorsGuild Statement on the Amazon Kindle 2
>
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Do you have contact details?
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Warm Regards,
>>
>> Fred
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of rick watson
>> Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 7:15 AM
>> To: 'Discussion of Digital Talking Books'
>> Subject: Re: [Dtb-talk] National Federation of the Blind Responds to
>> AuthorsGuild Statement on the Amazon Kindle 2
>>
>> Good morning listers,
>> I would like to urge everyone to contact technical support for the kindle
>> and ask that the menus be made usable through the text-to-speech engine.
>> The technician whom I spoke with said that he would pass along this
>> information. This is an opportunity for us as visually impaired people to
>> get access to a wide range of books. There are currently 230000 books
>> available for purchase on kindle's site.
>> Rick
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Freeh, Jessica (by way of David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>)
>> Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 10:38 PM
>> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [Dtb-talk] National Federation of the Blind Responds to Authors
>> Guild Statement on the Amazon Kindle 2
>>
>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>>
>> CONTACT:
>> Chris Danielsen
>> Director of Public Relations
>> National Federation of the Blind
>> (410) 659-9314, extension 2330
>> (410) 262-1281 (Cell)
>> <mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org
>>
>> National Federation of the Blind Responds to Authors Guild
>> Statement on the Amazon Kindle 2
>>
>> Baltimore, Maryland (February 12, 2009): The National Federation of
>> the Blind, the largest organization of blind people in the United
>> States, today responded to a statement put out by the Authors Guild
>> advising its members to consider negotiating contracts prohibiting
>> e-books to be read aloud by the new Amazon Kindle 2, which
>> incorporates text-to-speech technology. The Authors Guild argues that
>> the reading of a book out loud by a machine is a copyright
>> infringement unless the copyright holder has specifically granted
>> permission for the book to be read aloud.
>>
>> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
>> said: "The National Federation of the Blind supports all technologies
>> that allow blind people to have better access to the printed word,
>> including the ability of devices like the Kindle 2 to read commercial
>> e-books aloud using text-to-speech technology. Although the Authors
>> Guild claims that it supports making books accessible to the blind,
>> its position on the inclusion of text-to-speech technology in the
>> Kindle 2 is harmful to blind people. The Authors Guild says that
>> having a book read aloud by a machine in the privacy of one's home or
>> vehicle is a copyright infringement. But blind people routinely use
>> readers, either human or machine, to access books that are not
>> available in alternative formats like Braille or audio. Up until now,
>> no one has argued that this is illegal, but now the Authors Guild
>> says that it is. This is absolutely wrong. The blind and other
>> readers have the right for books to be presented to us in the format
>> that is most useful to us, and we are not violating copyright law as
>> long as we use readers, either human or machine, for private rather
>> than public listening. The key point is that reading aloud in private
>> is the same whether done by a person or a machine, and reading aloud
>> in private is never an infringement of copyright.
>>
>> "Amazon has taken a step in the right direction by including
>> text-to-speech technology for reading e-books aloud on its new Kindle
>> 2," Dr. Maurer continued. "We note, however, that the device itself
>> cannot be used independently by a blind reader because the controls
>> to download a book and begin reading it aloud are visual and
>> therefore inaccessible to the blind. We urge Amazon to rectify this
>> situation as soon as possible in order to make the Kindle 2 a device
>> that truly can be used both by blind and sighted readers. By doing
>> so, Amazon will make it possible for blind people to purchase a new
>> book and begin reading it immediately, just as sighted people do."
>>
>>
>>
>> ###
>>
>>
>>
>> About the National Federation of the Blind
>>
>> With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind
>> is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind
>> people in the United States. The NFB improves blind people's lives
>> through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs
>> encouraging independence and self-confidence. It is the leading force
>> in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind. In
>> January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind
>> Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in the
>> United States for the blind led by the blind.
>>
>>
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