The legal affairs committee in the European Parliament today voted in support of a treaty for books for the blind
Today the legal affairs committee JURI in the European Parliament today unanimously adopted an amendment supporting a binding WIPO treaty to give visually impaired and print disabled persons access to books that have been converted to accessible formats in other countries.
You can read more about the problem, and why a binding international treaty is needed, here.
The next step in getting the European Parliament to express its support for such a treaty will be a vote in the cultural committee CULT. I do not have an official date for the vote in CULT yet, but it appears it will be some time in March.
If the cultural committee accepts the amendment as well, it will be voted in plenary as part of the report Unlocking the potential of the cultural and creative industries some time later this spring.
There is still a long process ahead before any treaty on this subject becomes a reality, but today’s vote in JURI was an encouraging first step. And it was of course extra encouraging that all the political groups supported the amendment in that committee.
Now we’ll see what happens in CULT.
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Picture by Christian Engström, free for publication CC0
Tags: piratpartiet, eu, politik, informationspolitik
Christian Engström, former Member of the European Parliament 2009-2014 for Piratpartiet, Sweden
Christian Engström, Pirat 
Keep up the good work!
Every small step in the right direction counts!
Kommentar av Christer — 28 februari 2011 @ 22:22
The Guardian today writes about another problem. Showing that patents on consumer electronics rather inhibit sales and progress than what the patent industries are telling us.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/feb/28/playstation-3-lg-legal-dispute
Kommentar av Niklas — 1 mars 2011 @ 9:20
[…] I Bryssel jobbar Christian Engström på ordentligt. I måndags antogs ett amendment som han skrivit om böcker för synskadade i det juridiska utskottet, JURI. Nästa instans är det kulturella utskottet, CULT, och sedan håller vi tummarna för att parlamentet antar det hela senare i vår. Christian har skrivit mer om det på sin blogg. […]
Pingback av Nyhetsbrev 2011-03-01 | Anna Troberg — 1 mars 2011 @ 21:27
The fact that a group of greedy bastards are working to deny reading to the blind or visually impaired, even though the companies do NOTHING to provide books for that market, pisses me off no end.
This is such a simple choice ethically, that the struggle should be published in every newspaper so people could see what the opposition is doing. Bastards.
Keep up the good work. We have faith in you.
Kommentar av Jabberwock — 1 mars 2011 @ 21:59
[…] of European Parliament for the Pirate Party (and also a member of the Legal Affairs Committee), explains the win on his blog. In short, blind people today are banned from sharing Braille books across borders — they […]
Pingback av An Important Dent In The Copyright Monopoly - Falkvinge on Infopolicy — 1 mars 2011 @ 23:47
BRA Christan! ”Vi är många, och vi är starka”. 🙂
Kommentar av Rolf — 2 mars 2011 @ 0:14
[…] Christian Engstrom is noting that the legal affairs committee JURI in the European Parliament has unanimously adopted an amendment that supports the treaty. It still appears to have a long way to go, but as Rick […]
Pingback av European Parliament Committee Willing To Push Back On Copyright When It Comes To The Blind | The Gift Exchange — 3 mars 2011 @ 15:40
Background article by Knowledge Ecology International from november 2009:
”Who on earth would oppose a treaty to facilitate access to information and knowledge to people with reading disabilities?”
Kommentar av Christian Engström — 4 mars 2011 @ 9:28
[…] har visserligen försökt gå till kamp för blindas rättigheter. David Hammerstein från TACD har arbetat länge med avtalet och anordnat flera konferenser om […]
Pingback av Ser inte, får inte, läsa « Stenskott — 16 mars 2011 @ 19:00
[…] Europaparlament Jag (Christian) har skrivit ett amendment om böcker för synskadade, och i måndags antogs det av juridiska utskottet JURI. Nästa instans är kulturella utskottet CULT, och därefter hoppas jag att det antas som hela parlamentets åsikt någon gång under våren. Blogginlägg med länkar: http://christianengstrom.wordpress.c…d-in-juri-win/ […]
Pingback av Ledningsmöte 2011-03-01 « Ledningsbloggen — 28 juni 2012 @ 17:16
[…] Europaparlament Jag (Christian) har skrivit ett amendment om böcker för synskadade, och i måndags antogs det av juridiska utskottet JURI. Nästa instans är kulturella utskottet CULT, och därefter hoppas jag att det antas som hela parlamentets åsikt någon gång under våren. Blogginlägg med länkar: http://christianengstrom.wordpress.c…d-in-juri-win/ […]
Pingback av Ledningsmöte 2011-03-01 « Piratpartiet — 24 januari 2013 @ 19:44