[mountainstate] Fw: [leadership] FW: Wonder decries 'information deprivation' of theblind

[donna brown]

> Colleagues:
>
> ACB is working with the World Blind Union to advocate for the treaty
> referenced in the article below.  Sadly, the Obama Administration and
> specifically the U.S. Copyright Office does not currently support this
> effort.
>
>
> Mitch Pomerantz
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Rae [mailto:thepenguin at rogers.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 3:43 AM
> To: members at blindcanadians.ca
> Subject: Wonder decries 'information deprivation' of the blind
>
> Wonder decries 'information deprivation' of the blind
>
> Edmonton Journal , Sept. 21, 2010
>
> GENEVA -  U.S. pop and soul music legend Stevie Wonder told diplomats from
> nearly 200 nations on Monday to stop squabbling over copyright and agree 
> on
> a pact bringing "hope and light" to blind people around the globe.
>
> And the singer-musician, himself sightless since just after birth, warned
> negotiators at the United Nations intellectual property and copyright 
> agency
> WIPO that he would write a sad song about them if they didn't act on his
> appeal. "We must declare a state of emergency and end the information
> deprivation that continues to keep the visually impaired in the dark," 
> said
> Wonder, whose music has won dozens of top awards in his 50-year career.
>
> Wonder, 60, told delegates on the opening day of WIPO's annual assembly 
> that
> they should agree on an action plan that would empower the blind and
> near-blind by sidestepping copyright rules and giving them access to books
> and learning.
>
> His call was endorsed by the World Blind Union, which said that in
> developing countries less than one per cent of published works were
> available in formats like braille or audio. Even in rich countries, the
> total was less than five per cent.
>
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