Check your bookshelf!
Today, I checked the books on my bookshelves at work. I found 69 books. 9 of them are available in formats accessible to the reading disabled in the US and 1 is available to the print disabled worldwide.
Today, I checked the books on my bookshelves at work. I found 69 books. 9 of them are available in formats accessible to the reading disabled in the US and 1 is available to the print disabled worldwide.
Do we need an international treaty for reading disabled persons?
Yes, and today the World Blind Union is seeking international support for a proposed Treaty for Reading Disabled Persons at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The next meeting where this matter could be taken up is at the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights taking place in Geneva, May 25-29, 2009.
There are plans for the next ACTA negotiation to take place in Rabat, Morocco. However, since none of the Obama trade people have been placed at USTR, this might be delayed.
The USTR is still maintaining secrecy over details of the negotiation, including the names of participants and all of the proposed texts for negotiations. Despite this, KEI has obtained some documents related to the negotiations. We can report the following:
Romulus
Although the founding of Rome is a mystery, the myths of its origin hold that Romulus and Remus, the sons of Mars and Rhea Silvia, abandoned by their parents on the banks of the river Tiber, were suckled by a she-wolf, Lupa. Upon reaching adulthood, Romulus and Remus vied for control of Rome. According to Wikipedia,
The Dynamic Coalition on Open Standards (DCOS) convened two events during the first two days of the Internet Governance Forum in Hyderabad, India (3-6 Dec 2008).
Workshop 21 : “Knowledge as a Global Public Good: How Fair Use, Open Source and ICT Standards Can Expand Digital Inclusion”
4:30-6:00pm, December 3, Room 5
Moderator: Malini Aisola, Knowledge Ecology International
Speakers:
The 3rd session of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is meeting from 3-6 December 2008 in Hyderabad, India. According to the conference website, Hyderabad is
On November 25, 2008, I was invited to give a talk in Vienna, at the meeting of the Chamber of Commerce (the WKO). The event was organized by Eva Lichtenberger, a Green Party MEP. Eva also spoke, and gave a great talk, in German. Her slides were in English, and I’ll add them when I can. The outline of my talk is given below.
On November 25, 2008, I was invited to give a talk in Vienna, at the meeting of the Chamber of Commerce (the WKO). The event was organized by Eva Lichtenberger, a Green Party MEP. Eva also spoke, and gave a great talk, in German. Her slides were in English, and I’ll add them when I can. The outline of my talk is given below.
Two quick points about the WIPO press release for SCCR 17:
1. The press release does not mention the term “trans-border” (a reference to export and import), even though this was referred to in the context of L&E for distance education in the SCCR conclusions. Clearly the EU opposition to the New Zealand text on “application to the international exchange of materials in accessible formats” made an impression on the WIPO Secretariat.