Friday, May 22, 2009

Disabled must be given equal digital rights

Depriving visually impaired people of access to books is but one illustration of the need for copyright law to be rewritten, writes DANNY O'BRIEN

TWO DECADES ago, hardly anyone but a handful of intellectual property lawyers paid much attention to the letter of the copyright law. Now, like it or not, we’re all caught up in the fight over what copies we can make, how, and for what purpose.

Every act of creation or communication online seems to make some copy that we need to double check isn’t infringing. Can we copy our CD collection onto our iPods? Can you stop someone from forwarding the e-mail you sent them? Is someone ripping off your website? Your idea? Or are you copying their idea? Everywhere you look, it seems, copyright law looks in need of an overhaul. Read More

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