[x-pubpol] Poisoning the Treaty for the Blind

[Joly MacFie]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-fruchterman/poisoning-the-treaty-for-_b_3225181.html

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For years, international negotiations have been moving forward on what many
have come to know as the "Treaty for the
Blind<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-fruchterman/visually-impaired-rights_b_1820365.html>."
The goal of the treaty is to make it possible for people who are blind, or
have other print disabilities, to get access to the books they need for
education, employment and inclusion in society--no matter where they live.
It's something we already do, with great success, in the United States.
Early versions of the treaty embodied this principle, and in addition,
would ease the international transfer of accessible books for people with
disabilities.

In the end, a good treaty would mean real progress, and allow accessible
books to reach millions of disabled people in other countries. Extending
our own principles--that should be the United States' negotiating position.

Now, the progress made is all in jeopardy. Private interests have been hard
at work to insert poison pills in the treaty, such as provisions that make
the treaty either unpalatable for many countries to sign on to it or too
complex to implement. It's a terrible case of private interest trumping the
public good.

In the last few months we've seen the trade delegations from the United
States and the European Union, at the
behest<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-love/the-mpaa-disney-and-blind_b_3146665.html>
of
the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), suddenly changed course
and start advocating for positions that are contrary to current U.S.
law--positions that would be hard for me to imagine passing our Congress.
It has gotten to the point where many observers of the negotiations, being
held at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva,
believe that it's turning into a "Treaty to Protect Rightsholders *from* the
Blind!"

Why does this matter? Because at the rate we're going, we'll end up with a
Treaty that doesn't help the blind, but instead advances the intellectual
property agenda of the MPAA. It would be an absolute shame for this to
happen.
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