[gui-talk] National Federation of the Blind Endorses Google Books Settlement Before Congress

[Don Moore]

This is great!  and if, as someone indicated, that the Stream people are 
looking to make the Google Books readable on the Stream, it will be a huge 
boon to us.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Freeh,Jessica (by way of David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>)" 
<JFreeh at nfb.org>
To: <david.andrews at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 7:07 PM
Subject: [gui-talk] National Federation of the Blind Endorses Google Books 
Settlement Before Congress




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

cdanielsen at nfb.org


National Federation of the Blind
Endorses Google Books Settlement Before Congress




Urges Justice Department to Support Settlement



Washington, DC (September 10, 2009): The National Federation of the
Blind, the nation's oldest and largest organization of blind people
and the leading advocate for access by the blind to digital
information, testified before the House Judiciary Committee today
that the proposed settlement between Google and authors and
publishers regarding the Google Books project should be
approved.  The Google Books settlement will make millions of titles
available to the blind and other Americans with print disabilities,
providing more access to the printed word than the blind have had in
all of human history.



Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
told the House Judiciary Committee: "The Google settlement is, for
the blind and many others, the next step in the democratization of
knowledge.  That process began with the introduction of the printing
press and then, for the blind, with the invention of Braille.  Now
technology is available that transcends the traditional limitations
of both print and Braille, promising to make millions of titles
available to the blind in Braille or any other format of our
choice.  The narrow business interests of Google's competitors must
not be allowed to block Americans who cannot read print from all of
the opportunities that greater access to written knowledge will make
available to them.  It is time for the doors of the world's great
libraries to be opened and welcome to everyone."



The National Federation of the Blind also urged the United States
Department of Justice, which is reviewing the terms of the
settlement, to support the agreement.



"The Google Books settlement is a major step forward in advancing the
civil rights of blind Americans and others who cannot read print
because it substantially increases our opportunities for education
and employment," President Maurer said.  "The Justice Department,
which is tasked with protecting the civil rights of all Americans,
should respect the agreement of the parties to the settlement and
allow its access provisions to be fully implemented.  In doing so,
the government will send a strong message that it values the
participation of the blind in society and believes that we should
have access to all of the information to which our sighted friends
and colleagues have access."



###
_______________________________________________
gui-talk mailing list
gui-talk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
gui-talk:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/gui-talk_nfbnet.org/don.moore48%40comcast.net