Hi to all. David C. sent this along and requested I forward it. I'm sure book publishers are not very happy about this. Ted -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Fwd: New Copyright Exemption May Help Screen Reader Users Read more Books Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:36:37 -0400 From: Scott Howell <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: [log in to unmask] To: [log in to unmask] Folks, I am sharing this only because the issue of books offered through the Kendle app has been a challenge for blind users. This does not compel Amazon to do anything directly, but publishers can no longer use this as an excuse to exclude us from having access to the content. I do not know if the "more" link will work, but this at least gives you some basic info. Begin forwarded message: As part of an ongoing process, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington has issued a ruling which puts into play new exceptions for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, clarifying many gray areas of the law and making certain practices legal. While the mainstream media will be talking mostly about the legal ability to jailbreak the iPhone, Blind Bargains readers may also be interested in the very last rule which allows for circumventing of restrictions on eBooks. Essentially, screen readers can enable the reading aloud of electronic books without facing copyright restrictions, at least in cases where the publisher does not offer an accessible alternative. Here's the exact wording: Literary works distributed in ebook format when all existing ebook editions of the work (including digital text editions made available by authorized entities) contain access controls that prevent the enabling either of the book's read-aloud function or of screen readers that render the text into a specialized format. This is certainly a big step forward for book readers, though it does not require or compel companies like Amazon to enable this feature for all titles. Via Kotaku http://kotaku.com Post a comment http://www.blindbargains.com/b/5430 A T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile http://www.atguys.com Buy with the Nokia N86, and save on Mobile Speak or Talks,. Share: | Twitter http://twitter.com/home?source=BlindBargains.com&status=RT%20@blindbargains%20New+Copyright+Exemption+May+Help+Screen+Reader+Users+Read+more+Books%20http://www.blindbargains.com/b/5430, Facebook http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.blindbargains.com/b/5430, del.icio.us http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.blindbargains.com/b/5430;title=New+Copyright+Exemption+May+Help+Screen+Reader+Users+Read+more+Books, Digg http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.blindbargains.com/b/5430, Yahoo http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?t=New+Copyright+Exemption+May+Help+Screen+Reader+Users+Read+more+Books&u=http://www.blindbargains.com/b/5430 Read moreā¦ http://www.blindbargains.com/b/5430 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To post to this group, send email to [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [log in to unmask] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List. Archived on the World Wide Web at http://listserv.icors.org/archives/vicug-l.html Signoff: [log in to unmask] Subscribe: [log in to unmask]