[gui-talk] Fwd: Wayfinder Access Campaign Update

[Steve Pattison]

From: Wayfinder Access Protest Petition tim at dvlop.nl

Dear all,

You recently signed the Wayfinder Access Protest petition, expressing
your support for our campaign to save or provide a comparable
alternative to this GPS navigation solution which enables thousands of
blind pedestrians to find their way and was unexpectedly discontinued
by Vodafone.  Firstly we would like to thank you for your signature.
Thanks to your efforts in signing and promoting our campaignwe are at
over 2000 signatures, a great accomplishment! Vodafone acknowledged
our campaign and negotiations are ongoing, more on that below. To
strengthen the voice of blind GPS users and ensure Wayfinder Access
remains usable by it's current users for some time, we need your
ongoing help to increase the number of signatures more than ever! So
if you haven't done so, please send the link to our site, www.talknav.
com/protest, to your family, friends and other acquaintances! It's also
very important that media and blindness related organisations in all
countries learn about our ca mpaign, so please send them the link as
well! In the international signature number competition it's getting
really interesting... most signers are from the UK, congratulations
you've passed the US! But don't sit back... I'm sure you Americans
will make sure you get it bigger again! Below the US Germany has
finally passed the Netherlands, congratulations but just as on the
football field the Dutch will no doubt score a lot of signatures soon
to beat Germany! 5 South Africa / 7 India, you are hit hardest by
WFA's discontinuation because there is absolutely no alternative in
your countries, so please make sure to show this in your signature
count - you're both under 100, I'm sure you can do better! 6 France is
also under 100... alors montez votre grandeur! And in all those
countries below 7th place there's a lot more potential as well...
please get signatures and get your country in the top 7 signature
sources next time!

Future of the campaign

Due to the nature of the campaign and the progress that has been made
to date, a number of changes need to be made to our cause and what
exactly we are seeking from Vodafone.

We originally set out with three key goals:

1. To ask Vodafone why they cancelled Access without warning 2. To ask
them for an assurance concerning existing license holders rights 3. To
enquire as to the possibilities of a third party developer taking over
Access.

As we have been informed directly and through media releases by
Vodafone we now are able to answer some of these points and thus
change our strategy as follows.

Vodafone are pulling out of the Wayfinder service completely as a
result of market forces, with the advent of free vehicular navigation
solutions from the likes of Google and Nokia. Wayfinder which needs
considerable investment, just isn't a viable product range for
Vodafone.

So this is why Access has been discontinued and is facing complete shut
down in the coming months. Vodafone cannot make a profit on the
overall Wayfinder platform that it runs on.  So Access, to coin the
phrase, is the baby being thrown out with the bath water.

So this answers our point one, as to our other specific goals here is
where we now stand.

Wayfinder and Vodafone through direct conversation with us and media
discussions on BBC radio etc have confirmed their intentions to shelve
the entire Wayfinder product range. They stress that they are
sympathetic to our needs and concerns and state that they are working
towards potentially offering some sort of resolution package for
Wayfinder Access users.

What this translates into nearer to the time we cannot say for certain.
What we can tell you is that what is being discussed is; A) A full or
prorated refund to existing Wayfinder Access life-time license holders,
B) To enter into some sort of exchange program, where Vodafone
exchanges Access licenses for an alternative accessible GPS product.
The details of this are very much up in the air and no commitment to
this has been given yet. C) The possibility of providing a third party
with the source code and necessary information to take over the Access
project. D) Other options to which they'll not at this time discuss.

So we have now our goals 1 and 3 answered; Vodafone cannot make money
out of Wayfinder so it's being shut down, and they are considering at
this time permitting a third party organization to take over Access.

So what about goal 2; Vodafone have used plenty of lip service towards
this one, we've had assurances and more assurances, but what this
translates into down the road no-one knows. In today's commercial
environment phrases like "Social Responsibility" have significant
measure and with license holders having life-time rights to Access
Vodafone surely have both an ethical and legal obligation towards
Access users, but quite how far this translates into a helpful
resolution is yet to be seen.

So where does this leave our campaign?

Now more than ever it's essential that we keep signatures coming to our
campaign petition, we need to show Vodafone that this is a real and
believed in cause, and that by not acting there is a significant risk
of damage to their corporate image as well as legal ramifications.

We also want them to be certain that whatever solution they are
considering that we, the users, are kept informed and have a say. We
are aware, as Vodafone have informed us that they are talking with
multiple parties. We ask Vodafone to consider, as we are not told who
these parties are, please be sure to consider our views, the users. If
the other parties to whom they are discussing our product with get to
make a choice on our behalf this may prove not to be in our best
interests.

For now the only thing we can do is keep the pressure on, so please
keep signing, ask all who you know to review our campaign and sign in
favour of accessible technology for all.

Regards,
the campaign team
Neil Barnfather

Regards Steve
Email:  srp at internode.on.net
MSN Messenger:  internetuser383 at hotmail.com
Skype:  steve1963
Twitter:  steve9782