Problems with pdf files.

Janina Sajka janina at afb.net
Thu Jan 17 11:40:51 EST 2002


You have the right to use the document as it was intended to be used. That 
means you have the right to read it. This legal doctorine is much much 
older than the DMCA. In the case of books it is known as the Doctorine of 
First Sale. This doctorine says you can do anything you want with the 
book. You can read it, and you can tear it up. You can sell it if you 
wish, and you don't have to share the money you make selling it. You can 
lend it, and you can give it away, etc., etc.

Anyone who thinks the existing DMCA is the last word has not been reading 
the news from Capitol Hill recently. But, more on that later.
 On Wed, 16 
Jan 2002, Amanda Lee wrote:

> I bet we could beat them on the technicality that as persons who are blind
> seeking to enable a document to be accessible and in an alternate format
> which we otherwise could not read, is this side of the law but provided one
> uses the information for his or her own use and does not post it where it
> can be accessed by others, then doubt there's much that would hold-up in a
> court of law.
> 
> So if I have a colleague print the document and I then scan it with an OCR
> program, is that illegal?  Yet I technically would have displayed the
> document in another form.  So I also suppose it is illegal to magnify the
> font on the screen so that a low vision person can read it?  Godf forbid!
> don't change the colors on your screen such that it is easier for someone
> who needs different color contrast.  So let's a bunch ofblind folks get
> together and write a .pdf cracker! I'm ready to go to jail in protest!
> hahahahaha!  it's tempting because this is really against the ADA and
> Section 508 and against other laws.  I feel sorry for the poor slob who went
> to jail.  I'd like to see where this case is documented.
> 
> Amanda Lee
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kirk Wood" <cpt.kirk at 1tree.net>
> To: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 7:27 PM
> Subject: Re: Problems with pdf files.
> 
> 
> > On Wed, 16 Jan 2002, Steve Holmes wrote:
> > > ....  Key here is
> > > getting around copy-protection. I really fault Adobe systems on this
> one.
> > > Surely, there's gotta be a way to expose PDF text to the reader with or
> > > with out a password ....
> >
> > There is a way. And the lead programmer recently was realeased after
> > spending five months in jail without a trial. He was allowed to return to
> > Rusia. If you want to find the program he wrote it is out there. But
> > before some dumb ass asks, no I won't point you to it. The whole DeCSS
> > trial in the states is over pointing people to a program to circumvent
> > such things. I won't be lucky enough to have the EFF help with my defense
> > and I know nobody here will send enough money to make up for my lost wages
> > alone.
> >
> > =======
> > Kirk Wood
> > Cpt.Kirk at 1tree.net
> >
> > Nowlan's Theory:
> >         He who hesitates is not only lost, but several miles from
> >         the next freeway exit.
> >
> >
> >
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> > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >
> >
> 
> 
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-- 
	
				Janina Sajka, Director
				Technology Research and Development
				Governmental Relations Group
				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

Email: janina at afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175

Chair, Accessibility SIG
Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
http://www.openebook.org





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