Archive for August 4th, 2008

61 Reforms to C-61, Day 31: TPMs – Restrictions for Canadians with Perceptual Disabilities

Bill C-61 has the potential to impede access for all Canadians; however, one group may be particularly hard hit by widespread DRM use and the bill's anti-circumvention provisions.  Those with print disabilities (called perceptual disabilities in the Copyright Act) rely on new voice technologies to gain access to works that they are physically unable to view.  DRM can be used to limit or eliminate the use of technologies to read text aloud, thereby rendering it inaccessible for a segment of the population.  Indeed, for those that think this is a mere fairy tale, one of the better known instances of "read aloud" restrictions involved the Adobe eReader, which restricted the reading aloud function for Alice in Wonderland.

The Copyright Act contains a specific provision to address access for the print disabled. Section 32(1) provides that:

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August 4, 2008 3 comments News

cmaletter

CMA Letter.pdf

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August 4, 2008 Comments are Disabled General

cbaletter

CBA Letter.pdf

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August 4, 2008 Comments are Disabled General

CRTC Says iOptOut Requests “Valid and Should be Honoured”

Appeared in the Toronto Star on August 4, 2008 as Get Online Help to Override Do-Not-Call Exemptions The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission's announcement last week that the national do-not-call registry (DNC) will be operational by September 30th generated a collective sigh of relief from Canadians tired of unwanted telemarketing […]

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August 4, 2008 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive

Patry and Pessimism About Copyright

Many bloggers have lamented Bill Patry's decision to put an end to his invaluable blog.  The blog has been a daily read for many and will be sorely missed. Patry points to two reasons – the inability of some readers to separate his personal opinion from the views of his […]

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August 4, 2008 9 comments News