<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18812"></HEAD>
<BODY style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" id=role_body
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 rightMargin=7 topMargin=7><FONT id=role_document
color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px">
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">
<HR>
<FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2
face=Arial><BR><BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: Freeh,Jessica
<JFreeh@nfb.org><BR>To: david.andrews@nfbnet.org<BR>Sent: Thu, Sep 10,
2009 7:07 pm<BR>Subject: [blindkid] National Federation of the Blind Endorses
Google Books Settlement Before Congress<BR><BR></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; MARGIN: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12px"
id=AOLMsgPart_0_c8a86653-5ee2-452f-831c-072a33f0d6bb><BR>FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE <BR> <BR> <BR>CONTACT: <BR> <BR>Chris
Danielsen <BR> <BR>Director of Public
Relations <BR> <BR>National Federation of the
Blind <BR> <BR>(410) 659-9314, extension
2330 <BR> <BR>(410) 262-1281 (Cell) <BR> <BR><A
title=mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org
href="mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org">cdanielsen@nfb.org</A> <BR> <BR>National
Federation of the Blind <BR>Endorses Google Books Settlement Before
Congress <BR> <BR> <BR>Urges Justice Department to Support
Settlement <BR> <BR> <BR>Washington, DC (September 10, 2009):
The National Federation of the Blind, the nation's oldest and largest
organization of blind people and the leading advocate for access by the blind
to digital information, testified before the House Judiciary Committee today
that the proposed settlement between Google and authors and publishers
regarding the Google Books project should be approved. The Google Books
settlement will make millions of titles available to the blind and other
Americans with print disabilities, providing more access to the printed word
than the blind have had in all of human
history. <BR> <BR> <BR>Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the
National Federation of the Blind, told the House Judiciary Committee: "The
Google settlement is, for the blind and many others, the next step in the
democratization of knowledge. That process began with the introduction of the
printing press and then, for the blind, with the invention of Braille. Now
technology is available that transcends the traditional limitations of both
print and Braille, promising to make millions of titles available to the blind
in Braille or any other format of our choice. The narrow business interests of
Google's competitors must not be allowed to block Americans who cannot read
print from all of the opportunities that greater access to written knowledge
will make available to them. It is time for the doors of the world's great
libraries to be opened and welcome to
everyone." <BR> <BR> <BR>The National Federation of the Blind
also urged the United States Department of Justice, which is reviewing the
terms of the settlement, to support the
agreement. <BR> <BR> <BR>"The Google Books settlement is a
major step forward in advancing the civil rights of blind Americans and others
who cannot read print because it substantially increases our opportunities for
education and employment," President Maurer said. "The Justice Department,
which is tasked with protecting the civil rights of all Americans, should
respect the agreement of the parties to the settlement and allow its access
provisions to be fully implemented. In doing so, the government will send a
strong message that it values the participation of the blind in society and
believes that we should have access to all of the information to which our
sighted friends and colleagues have
access." <BR> <BR> <BR>### <BR>_______________________________________________ <BR>blindkid
mailing list <BR><A title=mailto:blindkid@nfbnet.org
href="mailto:blindkid@nfbnet.org">blindkid@nfbnet.org</A> <BR><A
title=http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
href="http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org"
target=_blank>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org</A> <BR>To
unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
blindkid: <BR><A
title=http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/bluegolfshoes@aol.com
href="http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/bluegolfshoes%40aol.com"
target=_blank>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/bluegolfshoes%40aol.com</A> <BR></DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>