[Athen] Library of Congress declares it's legal for the blind to break DRM for accessibility purposes

[Ron Stewart]

It is also something that is coming up more and more here in the states as
well.  While a great concept I think the current technology and standards
have a ways to go before we will be able to see accessible
printing/rendering on demand.  Both EPub and XML based publishing have this
at their heart but currently without full support for accessible content in
many instances.

 

Ron 

 

From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On
Behalf Of Karlen Communications
Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2010 10:23 AM
To: 'Access Technology Higher Education Network'
Subject: Re: [Athen] Library of Congress declares it's legal for the blind
to break DRM for accessibility purposes

 

Ahh, OK, thanks.

 

I agree that creating differently accessible content is not the goal of
accessibility however it is an ongoing discussion around "format on demand"
That resurfaces here/Ontario.

 

Cheers, Karen

 

From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On
Behalf Of Ron Stewart
Sent: July-29-10 10:00 AM
To: 'Access Technology Higher Education Network'
Subject: Re: [Athen] Library of Congress declares it's legal for the blind
to break DRM for accessibility purposes

 

INAL, but here is my understanding

 

Most likely not, that would be a derivative version which would require
permission of the copyright holder.  If the source is already accessible why
would another accessible version be needed.

 

BTW, this is not a new provision of the DCMA, this is a reauthorization of
the existing provision that allows for breaking a DRM lock for the purposes
of providing accessibility.  The DCMA is supposed to be reviewed and
reauthorized by the LOC every three years.

 

Ron 

 

From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On
Behalf Of Karlen Communications
Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2010 9:51 AM
To: 'Access Technology Higher Education Network'
Subject: Re: [Athen] Library of Congress declares it's legal for the blind
to break DRM for accessibility purposes

 

Interesting. If a book is already accessible would this exemption apply? In
other words can it be used to extract content from a DRM book that is
otherwise accessible to allow a differently accessible version?

 

Does anyone have more details on the specifics of this?

 

Cheers, Karen

 

 

From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On
Behalf Of Kelmer, Susan M.
Sent: July-29-10 9:40 AM
To: DSSHE-L at LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU; Access Technology Higher Education Network
Subject: [Athen] Library of Congress declares it's legal for the blind to
break DRM for accessibility purposes

 

Didn't know if anyone read about this.  This is a huge step in the right
direction.

 

 

"Allow blind people to break locks on electronic books so that they can use
them with read-aloud software and similar aides."

 

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2010-07-27-iphoneunlock27_ST_N.htm

 

Susan Kelmer

Lab Coordinator/AT Specialist

St. Louis Community College @ Meramec

314-984-7951

 

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