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Please sign petition ... support reading rights for the disabled.

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LiberalHeart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-07-09 02:35 PM
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Please sign petition ... support reading rights for the disabled.
Amazon's Kindle, the ebook reader that talks to you, is a great device for people with disabilities ranging from blindness to muscle disorders (that make it difficult for them to turn the pages of a book). People with dyslexia also find the text to speech feature on the Kindle helpful because a computerized voice reads along with them as they read. Trouble is, the Authors Guild fought Amazon, saying text to speech infringes on authors' rights. They're trying to make the case that a robotic voice is akin to a performance or a professional reading. It's not.

Most books are not available in audio format, but with the Kindle every book published in Kindle's digital format could be accessible to those with disabilities. However, the move by the Authors Guild can squash that. To make matters worse, Random House is disabling the feature across the board in their ebooks. There are boycotts organizing to try to get Random House to change their mind, and today there was a protest outside the Authors Guild building in NYC. People came from many states to protest but the Authors Guild refused to send anyone out to speak directly to the large crowd gathered there.

You can help get the message across to the Authors Guild and Random House if you sign the petition I'm linking to here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/We-Want-To-Read
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