[nabs-l] Whitehouse Petition

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi all,

For those of you who are not on the Bookshare.org mailing list, below
is the text of an email containing a link to sign a petition on the
Whitehouse web site pertaining to the same issues covered by the one
on the NFB's web site.  If this one gets 1000,000 signatures by June
22nd though, the Whitehouse and congressional leaders will be required
to take a closer look at the issue and possibly take action with us.
You need to create a whitehouse.gov account and there is a captia
image to get through, (and the audio is unfortunately not great), but
if you can get through those steps it's so worth it.  The petition
still needs some 96,000 signatures!  Sign, sign, sign!

Dear Kaiti,

It’s not typical for us to send you an email like this, but we felt
this situation was so important it was necessary.

You may already be aware, but for years negotiations have been moving
forward on what many have come to call the "Treaty for the Blind." The
goal of the international treaty is to make it possible for people who
are blind, or have other print disabilities such as dyslexia, to get
access to the books they need for education, employment and inclusion
in society—no matter where they live. It's something we already do,
with great success, in the United States through Bookshare.

However, private interests are trying to alter the treaty in such a
way that it would become useless—even harmful. For example, they’re
trying to get language adopted that basically says: “if you can buy
it, you can’t borrow it.” This is not only an attack on people around
the world with print disabilities—it’s also an attack on libraries,
like Bookshare, and could have a drastic effect on the number of books
you have access to.

Our biggest worry is this becoming a treaty that could stop Bookshare
from serving our users in the United States the way we do today.  We
need our government negotiating for a treaty that supports a library
like Bookshare.

That’s why we’re working with a coalition of disability and library
groups, including the National Federation of the Blind and the
American Council of the Blind, to fight back against the proposed
changes by these private interests. We’ll do everything we can to
secure a treaty that both protects the access we have now and that
will benefit people with print disabilities around the world—but we
need your help.

We’re asking you to take a moment to sign a petition on the White
House’s website that urges the President to step up his support:
http://ow.ly/lkJVs. If we can get to 100,000 signatures, the White
House is required to respond to the petition and will, hopefully, take
positive action. With your help we know we can reach that number.  We
also recommend the petition at the National Federation of the Blind’s
site, which is particularly accessible.

Thank you for your time and support. Together, we believe that our
collective voice can make a real impact.

If you’re interested in more background on the treaty, here are some
articles and resources you can review:
•	Huffington Post piece by Jim on how the treaty is being poisoned by
private interests:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-fruchterman/poisoning-the-treaty-for-_b_3225181.html
•	WIRED Magazine article that gives some recent updates on the treaty:
http://ow.ly/lfP15

Sincerely,
Jim Fruchterman & Betsy Beaumon, Bookshare

P.S. Please post the link to the White House petition on your social
media to help spread the word and get your friends involved! Again,
here is the link: http://ow.ly/lkJVs.

Note: this advocacy effort by Benetech, the nonprofit organization
that operates Bookshare, has not been supported or endorsed by
Bookshare funders, including the U.S. Department of Education.



-- 
Kaiti