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

[Bill Outman]

It's our government that has been reluctant to use the word treaty.  A
treaty would have to be ratified in the Senate.  

The article said WBU delegates attended the negotiations being conducted by
various government representatives.  I have not heard NFB's position in
particular but I presume it would favor a treaty unless someone from
national were to state otherwise.  

Bill Outman 



-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbf-l [mailto:nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of cheryl
echevarria
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 11:24 AM
To: nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] Treaty for Blind people will allow access to more
books! If USA ...


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@echevarriatrave
l.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
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