If this actually is happening, but will happen. Will voice over go away?

Jenifer Barr
Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 23, 2013, at 8:48 AM, Ricardo Walker <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> Its a BBC article.  You can find it here.
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21552733
> 
> Ricardo Walker
> [email protected]
> Twitter:@apple2thecore
> www.appletothecore.info
> 
> On Feb 23, 2013, at 8:30 AM, Craig Werner <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>> David, what is the source of this article?  For whom does Leo Kelion write?
>> 
>> Craig
>> 
>> On 2/23/13, David Chittenden <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Subject: VoiceOver threatened by Samsung
>>>> Reply-To: Blind Democracy Discussion List <[email protected]>
>>>> 
>>>> Even if Samsung does not succeed in their action, the very fact they've
>>>> even tried it guarantees I will never buy a Samsung product.
>>>> And to think Samsung was instrumental in establishing the guide dog school
>>>> in Korea.
>>>> Unconscionable.
>>>> Alice
>>>> Samsun    g struggles to block iPhone function for the blindBy Leo Kelion
>>>> 
>>>> Technology reporter
>>>> 
>>>> The VoiceOver function is designed to help
>>>> blind and partially sighted consumers use the
>>>> iPhone Samsung has suffered a setback in its
>>>> effort to win an iPhone ban based on a function
>>>> making its software accessible to blind people.
>>>> 
>>>> The South Korean firm had sought an injunction in
>>>> a German court arguing Apple's VoiceOver
>>>> screen-access facility infringed one of its patents.
>>>> 
>>>> However, the judge has ordered the case to be
>>>> suspended pending another ruling that could invalidate Samsung's claim.
>>>> 
>>>> Disability campaigners had expressed concern about the case.
>>>> 
>>>> Apple's VoiceOver function is used by blind and
>>>> partially-sighted people to hear a description of
>>>> what the iPhone is showing by touching its screen.
>>>> 
>>>> The software covers text and icons including
>>>> audio descriptions of the battery level and
>>>> network signal. It also allows the phones to be
>>>> operated via Braille-based add-ons.
>>>> 
>>>> Samsung had argued that Apple had failed to
>>>> licence a patent it owned which describes
>>>> pressing a button to make a handset describe its
>>>> display. The basis for this was that VoiceOver
>>>> could be switched on by triple-clicking the iPhone's home button.
>>>> 
>>>> Apple declined to comment.
>>>> 
>>>> A statement from Samsung said: "For decades, we
>>>> have heavily invested in pioneering the
>>>> development of technological innovations in the
>>>> mobile industry, which have been constantly reflected in our products.
>>>> 
>>>> "We continue to believe that Apple has infringed
>>>> our patented mobile technologies, and we will
>>>> continue to take the measures necessary to
>>>> protect our intellectual property rights."
>>>> 
>>>> 'Regrettable in the extreme'
>>>> 
>>>> Patent consultant Florian Muller, who was first
>>>> to report the Mannheim Court's decision, questioned Samsung's tactics.
>>>> 
>>>> "If Samsung had only requested monetary
>>>> compensation in this action, it would have made a
>>>> much better choice than by trying to achieve,
>>>> through the pursuit of an injunction, the
>>>> deactivation or (more realistically) degradation
>>>> of the voiceover functionality Apple provides to
>>>> its German customers," he wrote on his blog.
>>>> 
>>>> The British Computer Association of the Blind
>>>> said it was worried such an important feature might be threatened.
>>>> 
>>>> "A lack of access to information is arguably the
>>>> biggest potential barrier to inclusion in society
>>>> for blind and partially-sighted people," a spokesman told the BBC.
>>>> 
>>>> "If something as important as access to telephone
>>>> technology had been blocked by the actions of one
>>>> company over another the consequences for blind
>>>> people everywhere would be regrettable in the extreme."
>>>> 
>>>> The Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD tech site was more damning.
>>>> 
>>>> "Leaving aside the ethics of asserting a patent
>>>> against a feature designed to help the blind,
>>>> this is unwise," wrote John Paczkowski.
>>>> 
>>>> "It's the PR equivalent of punching yourself in
>>>> the face. Samsung has now identified itself as a
>>>> company willing to accept the loss of
>>>> accessibility for the vision-impaired as
>>>> collateral damage in its battle with Apple."
>>>> 
>>>> Apple and Samsung have fought a number of patent
>>>> cases against each other in courts across the world.
>>>> 
>>>> The biggest award involved a US jury ordering
>>>> Samsung to pay Apple $1.05bn (£688m) in damages.
>>>> The judge in the case later rejected Apple's call
>>>> for the sum to be increased and a sales ban on some Samsung handsets.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Blind-Democracy mailing list
>>>> [email protected]
>>>> http://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>>> 
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