[nabs-l] Fw: Reading Rights Coalition Denounces Random House

Wed May 20 21:40:53 UTC 2009

Uh...  Wow...  What's next, the nls site, and I mean the entire thing,  
web braille, etc?
On May 20, 2009, at 2:39 PM, alena roberts wrote:

> Thanks for this update. When I wrote my blog post last week about this
> issue only 40 titles had been disabled. To learn that they've disabled
> them all is even more of an outrage. I will be sure to alert my
> readers to this.
>
> Alena
>
> On 5/20/09, Scott C. LaBarre <slabarre at labarrelaw.com> wrote:
>> Greetings:
>>
>> I observe your list mostly from afar and often enjoy some of your
>> discussion.  I've been around the NFB for twenty-three years and am
>> predictably biused about the value of our organization and very  
>> proud of
>> what we have accomplished.  This NFB/ACB debate has been around  
>> since the
>> split in 1961 and, in my view, has consumed far too much valuable  
>> energy.  I
>> think the ACB has the wrong view on a number of issues just as they  
>> think we
>> do.  There are times, hwoever, when we agree and can work  
>> together.  The
>> below press release is such an example.
>> Scott C. LaBarre, Esq.
>>
>> LaBarre Law Offices P.C.
>> 1660 South Albion Street, Ste. 918
>> Denver, Colorado 80222
>> 303 504-5979 (voice)
>> 303 757-3640 (fax)
>> slabarre at labarrelaw.com (e-mail)
>> www.labarrelaw.com (website)
>>
>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This message may contain confidential and  
>> privileged
>> information. If you are not the designated recipient, you may not  
>> read,
>> copy, distribute or retain this message. If you received this  
>> message in
>> error, please notify the sender at 303) 504-5979 or slabarre at labarrelaw.com 
>> ,
>> and destroy and delete it from your system. This message and any  
>> attachments
>> are covered by the Electronic
>> Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521.
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Freeh, Jessica
>> To: Alpidio Rolon ; Amy Buresh ; Anil Lewis ; Art Schreiber ; Beth  
>> Rival ;
>> Bob Kresmer ; Carl Jacobsen ; Cathy Jackson ; Charlene Smyth ;  
>> Christine G.
>> Hall ; Daniel Burke ; Don Galloway ; Donna Wood ; Elsie Lamp ;  
>> Frank Lee ;
>> Franklin Shiner ; Fred Schroeder ; Fred Wurtzel ; Gary Ray ; Gary  
>> Wunder ;
>> J.W. Smith ; James Antonacci ; James Broadnax ; Jennelle Bichler ;  
>> Jennifer
>> Dunnam ; Joe Ruffalo ; John Batron ; John Fritz ; Joyce Scanlan ;  
>> Kathy
>> Davis ; Ken Rollman ; Kevan Worley ; Marie Johnson ; Mary Willows ;  
>> Matt
>> Lyles ; Matt Lyles ; Melissa Riccobono ; Michael Barber ; Michael  
>> Freeman ;
>> Mika Pyyhkala ; Nani Fife ; Pam Allen ; Parnell Diggs ; Patti Chang ;
>> Richard Bennett ; Richard Gaffney ; Ron Brown ; Ron Gardner ; Sam  
>> Gleese ;
>> Scott LaBarre ; Selena Sundling-Crawford ; Terri Rupp ; Tommy Craig
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 9:44 AM
>> Subject: Reading Rights Coalition Denounces Random House
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>>
>>
>> CONTACT:
>>
>> Chris Danielsen
>>
>> Director of Public Relations
>>
>> National Federation of the Blind
>>
>> (410) 659-9314, ext. 2330
>>
>> (410) 262-1281 (Cell)
>> cdanielsen at nfb.org
>>
>> Reading Rights Coalition Denounces Random House
>>
>>
>> Random House Has Denied 15 Million
>> Print-Disabled Americans Access to its Books
>>
>>
>>
>> New York City (May 20, 2009): The Reading Rights Coalition,  
>> representing
>> more than 15 million print-disabled Americans, has denounced  
>> publishing
>> giant Random House, which has turned off text-to-speech on all of its
>> e-books available for Amazon's Kindle 2 reading service.
>>
>>
>>
>> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,  
>> said:
>> "When Random House turned off the text-to-speech function on all of  
>> its
>> e-books for the Kindle 2, it turned off access to this service for  
>> more than
>> 15 million print-disabled Americans.  The blind and other print- 
>> disabled
>> readers have the right to purchase e-books using this service with
>> text-to-speech enabled.  Blocking text-to-speech prohibits access for
>> print-disabled readers and is both reprehensible and  
>> discriminatory.  We
>> urge President Obama, whose e-books are now being blocked from over  
>> 15
>> million Americans, to either demand that access be restored or to  
>> move to a
>> publisher who does not engage in discrimination."
>>
>>
>>
>> Dr. Cynthia Stuen, Senior Vice President of Policy and Evaluation for
>> Lighthouse International, said: "Having the technology available to  
>> give
>> people with impaired vision and other print disabilities equal and  
>> timely
>> access to the printed word should be celebrated and encouraged in a  
>> civil
>> and just society for all."
>>
>>
>>
>> Andrew Imparato, President and Chief Executive Officer for the  
>> American
>> Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), said: "Random House  
>> is
>> callously disregarding the right of American consumers with  
>> disabilities to
>> get access to the same content at the same price at the same time as
>> everyone else.  Random House's decision to turn off the feature  
>> that makes
>> this content accessible to millions of print-disabled Americans is  
>> a bad
>> business decision with real human consequences and it must be  
>> corrected
>> immediately."
>>
>>
>>
>> Mitch Pomerantz, President of the American Council of the Blind,  
>> said: "The
>> recent action by Random House disabling text-to-speech on e-books  
>> is the
>> latest and most egregious discriminatory action against the  
>> nation's 15
>> million print-disabled individuals.  Random House either doesn't  
>> care or
>> doesn't understand the impact this will have on those who would  
>> otherwise
>> have equal access to books and other printed materials in the same  
>> manner as
>> our non-disabled peers.  We must work collaboratively to do  
>> everything
>> possible to assure such access for this growing constituency."
>>
>>
>>
>> James Love, Director of Knowledge Ecology International (KEI),  
>> said: "KEI is
>> disappointed that Random House is turning off text-to-speech on its  
>> Kindle 2
>> e-books. In a world where access to knowledge is central to  
>> everything,
>> Random House certainly understands this action will isolate and  
>> marginalize
>> many persons with reading disabilities."
>>
>>
>>
>> K. Eric Larson, Executive Director and CEO of National Spinal Cord  
>> Injury
>> Association, said: "All Americans have the right to equal access  
>> and many
>> people living with paralysis use text-to-speech capabilities in  
>> order to
>> gain that access.  Our members are also consumers and "turning off"
>> text-to-speech means that some will not buy books they would  
>> otherwise
>> purchase."
>>
>> John R. Sheehan, Chairman of the Xavier Society for the Blind,  
>> said: "The
>> Xavier Society for the Blind is committed to the notion that ALL  
>> books
>> should be accessible to all people. When a book about Mother Teresa  
>> is among
>> those whose text-to-speech functions have been disabled, we fear  
>> that we are
>> seeing the beginning of a blanket cut-off of a function that should  
>> be open
>> and available to all, especially (but not exclusively) to those  
>> with visual
>> impairments or other problems that limit access to printed  
>> materials."
>>
>> When Amazon released the Kindle 2 e-book reading service on  
>> February 9,
>> 2009, the company announced that the device would be able to read e- 
>> books
>> aloud using text-to-speech technology.  Under pressure from the  
>> Authors
>> Guild, Amazon has announced that it will give publishers the  
>> ability to
>> disable the text-to-speech function on any or all of their e-books  
>> available
>> for the Kindle 2 service.  Random House is the first publisher to  
>> turn off
>> text-to-speech on all of its e-books and thus deny the rights of
>> print-disabled people across America.
>>
>>
>>
>> The Reading Rights coalition includes the blind, people with  
>> dyslexia,
>> people with learning or processing issues, seniors losing vision,  
>> people
>> with spinal cord injuries, people recovering from strokes, and many  
>> others
>> for whom the addition of text-to-speech on the Kindle 2 promises  
>> for the
>> first time easy, mainstream access to over 270,000 books.
>>
>>
>>
>> For more information about the Reading Rights Coalition, please visit
>> www.readingrights.org.  To sign our petition, go to
>> http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/We-Want-To-Read.  If you are an  
>> author who
>> supports our cause, please send your contact information to
>> readingrights at nfb.org.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ###
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> -- 
> Alena Roberts
> Blog: http://www.blindgal.com/
>
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