[Infowarrior] - Obama's trade reps and the MPAA are killing a copyright treaty that gives rights to disabled people

[Richard Forno]

Obama's trade reps and the MPAA are killing a copyright treaty that gives rights to disabled people

Cory Doctorow at 5:50 pm Sun, May 26, 2013

Jim Fruchterman, founder of the NGO Benetech, writes in frustration from the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, where the US Trade Representative is scuttling a treaty that will help blind people and people with other disabilities access copyrighted works, largely by making the (actually rather good) US laws the standard around the world.

Rather than promoting the US approach -- which allows for the creation of works in accessible formats without permission -- the US Trade Rep and his friends from the MPAA are advocating for a treaty that is far more restrictive than US law, ensuring that the US itself could never sign it.

In the process, they're killing a badly needed project to help people with disabilities around the world help each other to access creative works in formats that are adapted for their use.

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http://boingboing.net/2013/05/26/obamas-trade-reps-and-the-mp.html

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