Post Tagged with: "visually impaired"

Draft Marrakesh Treaty submitted by the Drafting Committee to the Plenary, 27 June 2013 by EIFL (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/f25S8C

Canada to Introduce Copyright Bill Implementing Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access for the Blind

While the media focus has unsurprisingly been on Budget 2016, the government has quietly moved to introduce copyright reform legislation that will allow Canada to implement the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled. The notice paper for Wednesday, March 23rd includes an Act to amend the Copyright Act with specific provisions on access to copyrighted works or other subject-matter for persons with perceptual disabilities. The decision to implement the Marrakesh Treaty is long-overdue. The Conservatives announced plans to do so in last year’s budget but waited to table legislation days before the summer break and the election call. With that bill now dead, the Liberals have rightly moved quickly to revive the issue.

The treaty expands access for the blind by facilitating the export of works to the more than 300 million blind and visually impaired people around the world, which is needed since only a tiny percentage of books are ever made into accessible formats. Further, it restricts digital locks from impeding access, by permitting the removal of technological restrictions on electronic books for the benefit of the blind and visually impaired. The last bill featured changes to Canada’s digital lock rules that demonstrated (yet again) that the rules are overly restrictive and in need of amendment. The bill should be introduced as soon as Wednesday with analysis to follow.

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March 22, 2016 1 comment News

“The Miracle in Marrakesh”: Agreement Reached on a Treaty for the Visually Impaired

After years of discussions and repeated efforts to thwart or water down a treaty for the visually impaired, delegates in Morocco reached agreement late Tuesday on a treaty. A draft of the text is available here.

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June 27, 2013 Comments are Disabled News

WIPO Agrees to Diplomatic Conference on Treaty for the Visually Impaired

The World Intellectual Property Organization today agreed to hold a diplomatic conference aimed at establishing an international treaty aimed at facilitating access to published works for the visually impaired. The conference, which is the final step toward a treaty, is scheduled for June 2013 in Morocco.

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December 18, 2012 Comments are Disabled News

Setting the Record Straight: 32 Questions and Answers on C-32’s Digital Lock Provisions, Part Two

Yesterday's post on the 32 Questions and Answers on Bill C-32's digital lock provisions focused on general issues in the bill, including compliance with WIPO, the penalty provisions, and their constitutional validity.  Today's post discusses the shortcomings in the anti-circumvention exceptions that are included in C-32.  With the exception of a new exception for cellphone unlocking, the exceptions are the same as those found in C-61 and a virtual mirror of the U.S. DMCA. For those that want it all in a single package, I've posted the full series as PDF download.

C-32's Circumvention Exceptions

This section features answers to the following questions:

  • Bill C-32 contains circumvention exceptions for encryption research and security testing.  Doesn't that address the research concerns?
  • Bill C-32 contains a circumvention exception for privacy.  Doesn't that address the privacy concerns?
  • Bill C-32 contains a circumvention exception for the visually impaired.  Doesn't that address those access concerns?
  • Bill C-32 contains a circumvention exception for interoperability.  Doesn't that address those concerns?

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June 9, 2010 17 comments News