Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 28, 2014

As Gerardo explained in a recent blog post , Schema.org—the organization that keeps a list of agreed-upon tags that all search engines can use in common—adopted our proposed standards, so that search engine users can refine their searches to easily find accessible learning resources online.

Open Source 184

Open Source Literacy eBook Empowerment 184

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 8, 2010

A Policy Update from an engineer, Jim Fruchterman of Benetech June 8, 2010 The international copyright negotiations in Geneva around a proposed Treaty for the Visually Impaired (“TVI”) have been steadily heating up. The Proposals A. Joint Recommendation Proposal (US-JR). The African Union Proposed Treaty (“AUPT”).

Accessibility 133

Accessibility Global Copyright Law 133

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

Bureaucratic barriers to utilizing a copyright exception, as proposed by some publishers, makes the cost even greater. It’s why the great majority of accessibility work is done by volunteers, charities, and with government support.

Copyright 158

Copyright India Library United States 158

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 8, 2009

I was part of an expert panel that drafted the original proposed treaty. Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay joined together to propose that WIPO consider this treaty. Bookshare pretty much has been made possible by the Chafee Amendment, a copyright exception provision in U.S.

Copyright 100

Copyright Paraguay Ecuador Brazil 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 5, 2010

Here are my comments on the big picture and a couple of their proposals. Specific comments on the proposed Clearinghouse. Specific comments on the proposed Chairman’s Awards. I'm much rather post something in a blog than go through a formal sending of a snail mail letter!

Accessibility 100

Accessibility Award Proposal Phase 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 27, 2010

Four of the social entrepreneurs then made brief presentations about their GRI proposals that had been chosen by the WEF to present to the conference. His proposal was that time-limited “smart subsidies” be used to encourage the adoption of these innovations until the adoption curve gets to the point where the commercial market takes over.

Bangladesh 100

Bangladesh Proposal Switzerland Adopt 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 21, 2010

Hot issue this week are the now four proposals on solving the problem of access to print by people with print disabilities globally: The TVI: the treaty sponsored originally by the World Blind Union and supported at WIPO by Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay and Mexico.

Copyright 100

Copyright Paraguay Ecuador Brazil 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 13, 2011

He's also been part of the effort to propose the Flexible Purpose Corporation here in California, an effort I strongly support to allow for-profit corporations to add a social purpose into their basic organizational charter.

San Francisco 140

San Francisco Law Lecture Advice 140

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 3, 2016

Because the Marrakesh Treaty was modeled after the Chafee Amendment, as the Section 121 copyright exception is widely known in honor of the senator who proposed it in 1996, only minor changes have been recommended to align U.S. And, that American copyright exception was the inspiration for the Marrakesh Treaty! law with the Treaty language.

United States 100

United States Language Copyright Library 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 17, 2012

Additionally I should mention Rom Srinivasan, who has been a great support starting from the proposal submission period. She has been very supportive and responsive on the matters I have had so far. She has been a wonderful mentor.

Sri Lanka 124

Sri Lanka Google API Mentoring 124

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

Bookshare’s role was mixed: we didn’t end up attending many of these meetings and critiqued early efforts that were crippled by heavy-handed publisher influence, although we did propose at one point to supply technology to TIGAR based on Bookshare. Definitely a good thing.

Accessibility 247

Accessibility License Copyright Library 247

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

We’re extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished with Bookshare over the past four years and are hopeful that by the end of our OSEP contract term, we’ll have delivered double the results we initially proposed. Bookshare has grown into the largest online digital library of accessible books and periodicals in the U.S.,

Student 173

Student Accessibility Copyright Library 173

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

Several of us plan to remain involved in NYCLU’s proposed analyses and look forward to staying in contact with Sara and the other members of the team. The most challenging next step is acquiring disaggregated crime statistics for NYC, something we were surprised and frustrated was not readily available online.

New York City 133

New York City New York San Francisco Analysis 133

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 18, 2011

KoBoToolbox is a toolkit for making it easy to collect survey data on mobile devices (turns out, I later found out we're already proposing to use this to do a survey in Africa). Plus, we discussed much more exciting tech that's in the De Novo pipeline, contributing to areas Benetech is very interested in!

Uganda 124

Uganda Africa Proposal Survey 124

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 14, 2009

We discussed Chafee, especially in the context of the Amazon text-to-speech brouhaha, and the proposed international treaty that was tabled at the WIPO SCCR meeting in Geneva last month. The hot topic was the proposal made by Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay, for a global treaty (a treaty for which I was part of the expert drafting team).

Copyright 104

Copyright Proposal Audio eBook 104

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 5, 2010

Dan Goldin (former head of NASA) and Charlie Kennel (former head of the Scripps Institiute of Oceanography) pulled together a proposal for what they call "Knowledge Action Networks," to help local community get access to data about how climate change was likely to affect their communities.

Japan 113

Japan Technology Conservancy Proposal 113

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 17, 2009

Wondering about whether a proposed project duplicates one already built? With all the energy around effectiveness and transparency, PWX is a great example of how to operate a network of hundreds of projects in different communities, with the detailed project information available to donors and partners. Apparently this happens a fair amount.

India 113

India Map Proposal Project 113

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 18, 2007

One new initiative that I got to hear about was the L3C proposed in North Carolina. My main contribution was to push for a matrix of all of the options that have been used or proposed, from the standpoint of a practitioner. This meeting moved the conversation forward. The investments would essentially lower the cost of doing business.

North Carolina 100

North Carolina Long Beach Asia Proposal 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 29, 2007

One of these days it would be great if nonprofit social enterprises were eligible for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants: these federally funded competitions often request proposals in areas (such as disability tech) where the market is unlikely to lead to a viable company but where a nonprofit social enterprise could very well become (..)

Business 100

Business Social Lecture Case Study 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 20, 2007

When we submitted our proposal to the competition to provide accessible books to U.S. students with print disabilities, I told my team that if we won an award, I'd cook smoked lobster for the whole company. Today's that day! We're just three weeks into this new world for Benetech.

San Jose 100

San Jose Award Student Proposal 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Benetech Labs: what are our intellectual property policies on Labs projects if we host projects proposed by third parties? Volunteerism: what happens when we engage volunteers outside the United States and expand the range of tasks we do inside the U.S.? Will we act as a fiscal sponsor, something we’ve avoided to date?

United States 134

United States Library Copyright License 134

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 18, 2008

The people who do web standards, the W3C, have a proposed standard that is in its early stages of drafting called Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA). Since the web is now used for much more complicated things than simple static web pages, there have been many accessibility problems.

Google 100

Google gMail Open Source Application 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 20, 2009

The Request for Proposal specified that only an authorized entity could receive an award in that competition. Finally, the Office of the General Counsel of the Department of Education reviewed Bookshare’s status as an authorized entity as part of the awards process for the Bookshare for Education project.

Authoring 100

Authoring Copyright Library Award 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 14, 2013

Creating a just economy, he proposed, meant abolishing the conflict between capital and labor – exactly the source of our problem today (as both Gordon and Brynjolfsson agree). Here, too, as I learned from Sen. Wofford, Gandhi’s philosophy is at the heart of the matter.

Technology 129

Technology Pledge Music University 129

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 7, 2012

I mentioned a mini-grant program that my organization, Benetech, had for a while (and which I would love to have again if I had more innovation funding), where any staff member could propose to spend $25,000 or less on an exciting opportunity.

Fund 154

Fund Social Liberia Money 154

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 9, 2013

In a recent blog post , Ed explains why growth markets are key to this proposed merger of two of the publishing world’s biggest players. Penguin, he points out, is a growing power in China, India and Brazil, while Random House is pervasive across Spanish-speaking Latin America.

Spain 151

Spain Language America Law 151

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 4, 2014

We winnow out 90% of the ideas proposed to us based on our New Project Assessment Method , incubate some of the selected 10%, and then pick one or two for follow-on funding. We have a pipeline of ideas, not teams.

Technology 163

Technology Profit Application Method 163

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 30, 2010

In the morning, I attended a session put on by the Young Global Leaders with six interesting proposals. I spend time desperately trying to capture some of these insights myself, or give someone an action item (send me an email on that and I’ll do it). Each hour there’s something memorable. Today was an example of this.

South Africa 165

South Africa Bangladesh Norway Africa 165

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 20, 2011

Elaina also proposed the introduction of a hotline for community members to report fire violations and a fire violation citations program. According to Elaina, halting fires and sedimentation on the reefs is especially critical because the U.S.

Guam 124

Guam Conservancy Software Help 124

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 14, 2012

On the heels of this cool idea came another, more challenging proposal from Patrick Ball, the head of our human rights program here at Benetech, – what if we put ownership of developing parts of this ecosystem into the hands of our broader community of stakeholders?

Global 157

Global Group Thailand Burma 157

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 31, 2004

Today I've been talking to humanitarian demining groups about our proposed mine detector. I'm working from Maputo, Mozambique on this U.S. Memorial Day. Last week in South Africa I was discussing adaptive technology for the blind and software for human rights groups.

San Jose 100

San Jose South Africa Mozambique Africa 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 6, 2006

Lord Mountbatten proposed to his wife in that building and was later the Chancellor of the University as the UK's last Viceroy to India. Sena is a retired English Literature professor who has been visually impaired all of his life and continues to work avidly for people with visual impairments.

University 100

University India Spain Student 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 27, 2011

Through negotiations, four competing proposals have been merged into a single document supported in June by the Latin Americans (led by Brazil), the U.S., In addition, the two national organizations of blind people both just passed formal resolutions in favor of the treaty proposal. the European Union and others.

Accessibility 150

Accessibility Global United States Copyright 150

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

Let me give two specific examples that came up in my first conversation with a lawyer about the proposed bill: 1. And, if we’re worried, a lot of other good organizations should start getting worried! Stopping fund raising and subscription revenue for Bookshare, the largest online library for people who have print disabilities.

eBook 277

eBook China Copyright Library 277

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 1, 2010

This meeting was a follow-up for me from my attendance earlier this year at the main WEF meeting in Davos , where I presented my proposal as part of the GRI. My proposal was on ensuring that all of humanity benefits from the incredible knowledge and technology. We need to encourage limitations and exceptions (like the one in the U.S.

Qatar 124

Qatar Jordan San Francisco Australia 124

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 8, 2007

Email encryption strategy: build plug-ins that automatically send encrypted email by implementing Simson Garfinkle's proposals (MIT) 5. remove useless visual information that a visually impaired person wouldn't care about. Navigating Bookshare.org with voice activated software a. Could be reapplied for other projects afterwards 6.

Challenge 100

Challenge Wisconsin Phone Voice 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 10, 2008

My thesis is that his pamphlet (as he describes it) is long on myth and short on reality. Therefore, we need drastic policy reforms to solve this problem So, on to the first point in the latest comment.

Technique 100

Technique Philanthropy Global Problem 100