Enclosed is a letter from Chris Gray, the President of the American Council 
of the Blind.

Hello to All: I am sending to you the text of my President's Message for 
June, 2006. As you will shortly understand, this message requires your 
immediate attention. The closure of Web-Braille is, in a word, unbelievable. 
Please read this article and take immediate action.  More to follow. Thank 
you. Chris President's Message: That All May Read Except Those Who Read 
Braille NLS Strikes Blow to Braille by Christopher Gray In 1998, the 
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
(NLS) made its collection of braille books in electronic format available to 
eligible borrowers over the internet through a program called Web-Braille. 
Blind and visually impaired people could brows among thousands of titles and 
download books to their Braille-aware devices such as BrailleNotes, PAC 
Mates and Braille Senses or emboss them and read them in hardcopy. 
Beginning in
2004, Web-Braille was used to make large numbers of braille music titles 
similarly available.  This was a great service to library patrons and we in 
the ACB, individually and collectively, applauded NLS for their 
accomplishment. On May 11th of this year, NLS announced on the Web-Braille 
web site that "Because of technical and security difficulties, Web-Braille 
will be unavailable in the near future. NLS regrets the inconvenience and 
will provide further information as soon as possible." While the nature of 
the " technical and security difficulties " have yet to be officially 
explained, it is clear that the leadership at NLS are concerned about 
possible violations of "fair use" in the Chaffee Amendments of the U. S. 
Copyright laws. Web Braille files are prepared in a special braille format 
called "BRF" files, fully translated into contracted Braille and formatted 
in the same way they appear in NLS hardcopy braille titles or as embossed on 
braille paper. These files can only be downloaded by registered eligible 
users who have been issued the proper user name and password by a 
cooperating NLS network library. Each day that Web-Braille is down, blind 
children are being denied access to Braille books that are in limited 
supply; those who are deaf-blind are restricted from accessing a primary 
source of reading material; and libraries are being forced to engage in 
additional shipping of hardcopy braille books adding to their operational 
expenses. While we understand that NLS must be responsible when it comes to 
complying with copyright law, we believe that they have taken precipitous 
and unwarranted action in restricting access to Web-Braille, and have taken 
an extremely narrow interpretation of "fair use", thus negatively impacting 
the patrons they are pledged to serve in accessing reading materials. As a 
longtime devotee of audio recordings (in both an analog and digital 
environment) and having worked in both the mainstream and adaptive 
technology fields, I know that any individual, whether sighted or blind, can 
easily acquire and use the technology necessary to convert files from one 
format to another, including from BRF e-text files to mp3 audio files. The 
world relies on the good will of end users, not to abuse this ability. 
Certainly, users of Web-Braille have honored that commitment for the past 
eight years. We will not stand by and see our access to information denied 
on the basis of "it might be done someday". ACB calls on NLS to reinstate 
Web-Braille immediately while continuing to work on acceptable procedures 
that are not burdensome to borrowers, while assuring compliance with 
copyright law.  To our knowledge, Web-Braille has not been abused by those 
who it is intended to serve, and registered borrowers and the blindness 
community as a whole should not be punished as if they have violated the 
law. I ask each ACB member to contact their elected representative in 
Congress today in Washington D.C. and ask them to use their influence with 
NLS and its director Frank Kurt Cylke to urge the immediate restoration of 
Web-Braille access to registered users. Congress should also take this 
opportunity to clarify and assure that "fair use" for blind and visually 
impaired citizens includes Web Braille and similar projects. In addition, 
feel free to express your concerns to NLS Director Frank Kurt Cylke at 
[log in to unmask] or at 1-800-424-8567. Let me assure you that this narrow 
interpretation of the law can endanger other services being provided by both 
public and private organizations wishing only to bring the joy of reading to 
all of us.  The pressure you can bring on NLS and Congress is all that 
stands between you and restored equal access to the written word.


Don't worry about what people think; they don't do it very often.

Steve, K8SP




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