[Nfbf-l] Treaty for Blind people will allow access to more books! If USA ...

Tue Nov 27 16:23:34 UTC 2012

Does this mean that the NFB doesn't support the Word Treaty, or this our government saying this, it is a little confusing to me.
Please, let me know.
Thank you.

Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 of NY State
Leading the Way in Independent Travel!
SNG Certified - Accessible Travel Advocate!
Cheryl Echevarria, Ownerhttp://www.echevarriatravel.com631-456-5394reservations@echevarriatravel.comhttp://www.echevarriatravel.wordpress.com
2012 Norwegian Cruise Line University Advisory Board Member.
Echevarria Travel and proud member of the National Federation of the Blind will be holding a year round fundraiser for the http://www.NFBNY.org after Hurricane Sandy and other resources. Any vacation package booked between November 6 2012-November 6, 2013 and vacation must be traveled no later than 12/30/2014 a percentage of my earnings will go to the affiliate.  Also is you book a Sandals for couples or Beaches for families and friends resorts vacation, $100.00 per booking will go to the affiliate as well.  You do not need to be a member of the NFB.org, just book through us.
Thank you.

> From: adicey at bellsouth.net
> To: ;
> Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2012 10:54:06 -0500
> Subject: [Nfbf-l] Treaty for Blind people will allow access to more books!	If USA ...
> 
> European Blind Union Press release
> Paris, November 26, 2012
> WIPO Negotiations Treaty for Blind people
> Talks in the balance: EU backs treaty leaving USA isolated
> Geneva, 25.11.2012 - A four year UN negotiation on a new World Intellectual 
> Property Organization (WIPO) treaty for people who are blind or have other 
> print disabilities hangs in the balance. Will the world seize the 
> opportunity to make it legal for blind people to share books across borders?
> 
> WBU delegates attended the negotiations which took place between 19 and 23 
> November in Geneva.
> WBU said that negotiators from all parts of the world worked hard on the 
> treaty in SCCR25 and they welcomed this. WBU delegates were also cheered by 
> the EU declaration on the first day of the session that it is now willing to 
> back a binding treaty. The EU had vehemently opposed a treaty not long ago, 
> so this is a very significant result of the advocacy of users and the 
> European Parliament on this matter.
> 
> Dan Pescod, who leads WBU's European campaign for the treaty, explained:
> "We have campaigned for years with hundreds of members of the European 
> Parliament to get EU backing for a treaty. This is a significant and welcome 
> step forward, but the EU needs now to ensure it supports the human rights of 
> blind people to access information. It should do this by negotiating a 
> simple and workable treaty."
> 
> The USA delegation still has not pronounced the word "treaty" at these
> negotiations. It is now the only major negotiator not to do so. WBU
> pointed out this fact on the last day of the meeting in their closing
> remarks.
> Maryanne Diamond, leader of the WBU delegation, commented:
> "I had to point out the omission of the word "treaty" from the warm words of 
> the US head of delegation. The USA has had time decide its position on a 
> treaty- it is now high time it made its support clear".
> 
> With the WIPO "Extraordinary General Assembly" in three week's time tasked 
> with agreeing the nature of the new law (treaty or non-binding soft law), 
> the nature of that law is a pressing concern for disability activists. 
> Historically, WIPO only deals in treaties to protect publishers' rights. WBU 
> is urging negotiators to afford them the same level of protection for the 
> human rights of blind people.
> 
> Some negotiators, including a few EU member states, still seem to be pushing 
> issues which deal more with rights holder concerns than those of the blind 
> and print disabled people this treaty is supposed to serve.
> 
> 
> Rahul Cherian, from Indian WBU member Inclusive Planet, said:
> "The objective of this treaty must be that of helping blind and print 
> disabled people to get accessible format books, especially in developing 
> countries. To achieve this goal, it must be workable, simply worded and 
> effective for blind and print disabled people and their organizations to 
> use. The heart of the treaty is cross-border sharing of works. We will push 
> hard to ensure that the provisions on this matter are clear and simple."
> 
> Chris Friend, head of WBU's Right to Read campaign, added:
> "We need those provisions to clearly permit cross-border sharing of 
> accessible books both between organisations and directly from organisations 
> to blind or print disabled individuals. We reject complicated requirements 
> for checks on whether the books are commercially available. Such procedures 
> would sacrifice the usability of the treaty on the altar of publisher 
> reassurance."
> Friend further commented:
> "We are hopeful that the negotiations will still lead to a binding and 
> useful treaty in 2013. The goodwill exists to get the job done. The momentum 
> of the recent negotiations must not be lost."
> 
> Background
> 
> An end to the "book famine"
> 
> Even in 2012, blind people and others living with a print disability such as 
> those with dyslexia still have very limited access to books. Only some 7% of 
> published books are ever made accessible (in formats such as Braille, audio 
> and large print) in the richest countries, and less than 1% in poorer ones. 
> This is a "book famine".
> 
> An international treaty for blind people
> The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) makes treaties and other 
> international laws on copyright
> Back in 2009 the World Blind Union, Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay proposed a 
> WIPO treaty to help relieve the book famine in which fewer than 1% of books 
> are published accessibly in developing countries, and only some 7% in the 
> most developed.
> 
> Briefly, the new treaty would:
> Allow specialist organizations to make accessible copies of books in all 
> signatory countries
> Make it legal to send accessible books across national borders
> Still respect copyright law: it is not an attack on publishers!
> Make more books available for blind people
> About WBU
> 
> The World Blind Union (WBU) is the internationally recognized organization, 
> representing the 285 million blind and partially sighted persons in 190 
> member countries.  We are the Voice of the Blind, speaking to governments 
> and international bodies on issues concerning blindness and visual 
> impairments in conjunction with our members. For further information, please 
> visit:
> 
> www.worldblindunion.org
> 
> Contacts
> 
> Chris Friend, Chair, WBU right to read campaign
> cfriend at sightsavers.org
> +44 7919 552 170
> 
> Dan Pescod, Vice Chair, WBU right to read campaign
> Dan.pescod at rnib.org.uk
> +44 207 391 2009
> 
> _______________________________________________
> With Best Regards,
> Alan Dicey
> Miami, Florida
> Join a Free voice Chat Community on the Web!
> Hey Folks!  Would you like to have lots of fun and meet other blind or 
> visually impaired individuals from across the country and around the world? 
> Do you like challenging games, old time radio, adaptive cooking techniques, 
> book clubs, chess instruction, product presentations, real time technical 
> assistance with your computer, and lots and lots more?  If this is what you 
> are looking for, join us at, Out-Of-Sight!  We offer over 30 different Chat 
> Rooms with something for everyone!  This site is made up of the most 
> friendly and courteous folks    you are likely to meet on the net!  The 
> Out-Of-Sight community is made up of a set of free voice chat rooms that are 
> extremely user friendly, and all you need is a microphone to get started! 
> To become a member and join our Out-Of-Sight free chat community go to the 
> website, at, www.out-of-sight.net
> If you have any questions or need assistance logging in, please contact,
> webmaster at out-of-sight.net
> We hope to see you soon!  "Catch the vision--it's Out of Sight!" 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Nfbf-l mailing list
> Nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbf-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Nfbf-l:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbf-l_nfbnet.org/cherylandmaxx%40hotmail.com