[Vabs] Fwd: information picketing NYC, april 7, 2009

[Corbb O'Connor]

Virginia Students,

Here's an excellent opportunity to get involved with the Federation!  
Anybody planning to go? E-mail alaney at nfb.org if you want a seat on  
the bus, and tell her that you're from Virginia.

Corbb

-----
Corbb O'Connor
The George Washington University '10
B.A. Political Communication & Economics

Begin forwarded message:

From: "seville allen" <ceoallen at verizon.net>
Date: March 25, 2009 5:48:57 PM EDT
Subject: information picketing NYC, april 7, 2009

 From Chris Danielson:

Dear Fellow Federationists:

As you may already know, Amazon, Inc. released the newest version of its
e-book reader, the Kindle, on February 9 of this year.  The Kindle 2
includes a feature that allows e-books downloaded to it to be read  
aloud.
The Authors Guild has objected to this feature because it believes these
e-books are licensed only for visual display, and under pressure from  
the
Guild, Amazon has decided to allow authors and publishers to decide  
which
books can be read aloud by this device.  Naturally, this is a blow to  
blind
people and others with print disabilities who can benefit from the
text-to-speech feature and who would love to be able to purchase books  
and
start reading them immediately for the first time in history.  For this
reason the National Federation of the Blind has joined with other
organizations representing people who cannot use print effectively to  
fight
the Authors Guild.

We plan to kick off our public education campaign to increase public
pressure on the Authors Guild to reverse its stance with an  
informational
protest in front of the Guild’s headquarters in New York City.  This  
picket
will take place on Tuesday, April 7, from noon until 2:00 p.m.  I am  
writing
to you in hopes that you can organize members to come to this  
protest.  A
number of Federationists from Maryland are coming and we expect
participation from other organizations in the coalition, but it would be
very helpful if those of you with easy access to New York City would  
help us
by providing more picketers.  It is extremely important that we make a
strong impression on the Authors Guild and the media so that our message
will be heard.

In the next few days you will receive more communications with  
additional
logistical details, as well as more information about our position and
suggestions on how to respond to questions from the media.  In the  
meantime,
if you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact  
me.  As
soon as you have an idea of how many people may be able to come to this
event, please provide that information to John Paré by calling  
410-659-9314,
ext. 2227, or by e-mailing jpare at nfb.org.  Thank you for your  
assistance in
this important matter.



Sincerely:

Chris Danielsen



Christopher S. Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

NOTE:  We are told that if there are Virginians who wish to go to new  
york
for this event and want a seat on the bus, contact  Ann-Marie Laney at
alaney at nfb.org