[LINK] USA, Canada and the EU attempt to kill treaty to protect blind people's access to written material

Kim Holburn kim at holburn.net
Tue Nov 17 20:08:23 AEDT 2009


The Canadian Professor Michael Geist has some interesting things to  
say about WIPO and ACTA here:
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4530/125/

It seems that some push back at WIPO by countries like Brazil has led  
to the main western beneficiary nations moving to use ACTA to bypass  
WIPO.

On 2009/Nov/17, at 9:11 AM, Jan Whitaker wrote:

> Linkers, I received a reply in the post to this message. My original
> message was sent as shown, 30 May. The response was received
> yesterday, 16 November. Who knows *what* they've been doing in the
> mean time in Canberra. The response is from the AG. I've reproduced  
> below.
>
> My original message:
> At 11:30 AM 30/05/2009, Jan Whitaker wrote:
>> At 08:48 PM 29/05/2009, Kim Holburn wrote:
>>
>>> http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/29/usa-canada-and-the-e.html
>>
>> Sent to Bill Shorten today:
>>
>> Dear Mr Shorten, I wish to bring to your attention a current effort
>> occuring in WIPO [World Intellectual Property Organisation]
>> regarding removing the right of vision impaired persons to access
>> information without a copyright breach. The US, the EU, and
>> Australia! among others are moving to remove this right in favour of
>> the copyright holders. Refer to:
>> http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/29/usa-canada-and-the-e.html for
>> information and background on this situation. It has been a
>> longstanding principle that the vision impaired should not be
>> deprived of access to information merely for copyright reasons. I am
>> not an expert in this area, but am somewhat familiar with it after
>> doing work with Vision Australia. I ask you and your staff to
>> discuss this position by the govt with colleagues and reconsider the
>> position. You or I or our loved ones could lose our sight at any
>> time and be deprived of the joy of 'reading' merely due to this
>> proposed change. Best regards, Jan Whitaker Berwick VIC PS: I hate
>> forms because I am not sure if I'll receive a copy and the info on
>> this page does not ascert that I will.
>>
>> [It's a form thing....]
>>
>> Here's his link to write to him:
>> http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/memfeedback.asp?id=ATG
>
> McClelland's reply [I wrote to Shorten, so I was confused why I was
> getting a letter from McClelland]
>
> Dear Ms Whittaker [misspelled my name throughout; I'm fairly certain
> I didn't misspell it myself on their bloody form]
>
> Thank you for your e-mail of 30 May 2009, regarding copyright
> exceptions for blind and visually impaired persons. Your
> correspondence has been forwarded to me as copyright is part of my
> portfolio responsibilities.
>
> Firstly it is not correct that Australia may be opposing proposals
> for a new international instrument to asist greater access to
> copyright materials for blind and visually impaired people within
> discussions at the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights
> at the World Intellect (sic) Property Organisation (WIPO).
>
> In fact, Australia is keen to be constructive in international
> discussions at the WIPO on improving access to copyright materials
> for visually impaired persons. This includes consideration of a
> possible treaty as proposed by the World Blind Union, and supported
> by Brazil, Equador and Paraguay. [I wonder how much clout they have!]
> Australia is very supportive of finding an effective and timely
> solution to this matter.
>
> Australian copyright law already provides a number of exceptions to
> facilitate access to materials for people with a disability [that is
> true; I've read the act in conjunction with a project to provide that
> access]. The Government has no intention of removing or reducing
> these exceptions. [So if the treaty says they must, will they not
> sign it?] However, we will consider the merits of any additional
> proposed measures for enhancing access to materials which are raised  
> in WIPO.
>
> I can assure you that the Australian Government is very conscious of
> the needs of the visually impaired persons and people with other
> disabilities and understand the importance of providing appropriate
> and adequate measure to cater for those needs.
>
> The action officer for this matter in my Department is Josh McKay who
> can be contacted on (02) 6141 3446.
>
> Sincerly
> Robert McClelland
>
> =======
> I went back to that original article by Cory Doctorow and find there
> is an update that things have retreated from the original position.
> http://keionline.org/blogs/2009/05/29/final-conclusions-of-sccr-18#more-1961
>
>
> These are the final conclusions of SCCR 18.
>
> World Intellectual Property Organization
> SCCR Eighteenth Session
> Geneva, May 25 to 29, 2009
>
> CONCLUSIONS OF THE SCCR
> prepared by the Chair
>
> Limitations and exceptions
>
> 1 The Committee reconfirmed its commitment to work on the outstanding
> issues of the limitations and exceptions, as decided at the
> seventeenth session of the SCCR, taking into account
> development-related concerns and the need to establish timely and
> practical result-oriented solutions. Likewise, the Committee
> reaffirmed its commitment to continue without delay its work in a
> global and inclusive approach, including the multifaceted issues
> affecting access of the blind, visually impaired and other
> reading-disabled persons to protected works.
>
> 2 The Committee expressed its appreciation for the Proposal by
> Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay Relating to Limitations and Exceptions:
> Treaty Proposed by the World Blind Union (WBU). Views were expressed:
> supporting the proposal for a binding instrument; expressing the wish
> for more time to analyze it; expressing the desire to continue the
> work on the basis of a global and inclusive framework; and expressing
> that deliberations regarding any instrument would be premature.
> Member States will continue to consult on these issues at national
> level and report on the activities and views on possible solutions.
> This proposal, together with other possible proposals and
> contributions by the Members of the Committee, will be discussed at
> the nineteenth session of the SCCR.
> [snip]
>
>
>
> Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
> jwhit at janwhitaker.com
> blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
> business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
>
> Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or
> sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
> ~Madeline L'Engle, writer
>
> _ __________________ _
>
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-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
Ph: +39 06 855 4294  M: +39 3494957443
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