Re: [Audyssey] Fw: ALERT!--1 Email from You Can Keep the FCC from Throwing Accessible Gaming Tech Under the Bus!
HI, It was a news letter put out by the AFB that day. I too got the same email. My comment is if you feel strongly about this, or have a minute to write something, send it along. You just never know what might happen. Shermanator - Original Message - From: shaun everiss sm.ever...@gmail.com Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2012 11:46 PM And give my credit card number out to? Sorry but this sounds like a spam. Even if its true I don't think mass mailing the government would help. If I was bothered I guess I could do that. but they are not worth me actually making something to keep flooding for no reason. I am not exactly that bored either. All these petitions don't exactly go anywhere and I have no confidence. Look at the wayfinder petition. Does anyone have some comment on this. at this point though dean where did you pull this from anyway. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] Fw: ALERT!--1 Email from You Can Keep the FCC from Throwing Accessible Gaming Tech Under the Bus!
Everyone, I've gone through the U.S. Code material as published by congress, and it seems to me that most video game companies are well within their right to ask for a waiver. Here's a paste of the most relevant section: ‘‘(h) COMMISSION FLEXIBILITY.— ‘‘(1) WAIVER.—The Commission shall have the authority, on its own motion or in response to a petition by a manufacturer or provider of advanced communications services or any interested party, to waive the requirements of this section for any feature or function of equipment used to provide or access advanced communications services, or for any class of such equipment, for any provider of advanced communications services, or for any class of such services, that— ‘‘(A) is capable of accessing an advanced communica- tions service; and ‘‘(B) is designed for multiple purposes, but is designed primarily for purposes other than using advanced commu- nications services. ‘‘(2) SMALL ENTITY EXEMPTION.—The Commission may exempt small entities from the requirements of this section. Basically, the FCC is allowed to give waivers to when the advanced communications services are not the main product. Keep in mind that advanced communications services is pretty narrow, and basically boils down to real-time chat in various forms. Graphics and cool looking visual effects are what most modern games are about; the ones that do have chat, usually only have it as an incidental feature to the actual game play. In short, you can play the game without chat, but you can't really chat without playing the game. To give three quick examples: - Facebook has games and advanced communications services. However, the main point of Facebook is the communications services, not the games. Facebook should not get a waiver. - World of warcraft is a game and has built in advanced communications services. However, the main point of WoW is the real time graphical aspect of the game, not the chat service. The WoW publisher and server maintainers should probably get waivers. - Skyrim is a graphical game with a lot of quests and quest text. It is single player and has no advanced communications services even though it does make heavy use of text. Because of this, the game isn't covered by the law, and doesn't need to request a waiver or add accessibility features (rather, it doesn't have to add accessibility features as a result of this set of laws.) In addition, congress added a guideline that makes a lot of sense: ‘‘(j) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section shall not be con- strued to require a manufacturer of equipment used for advanced communications or a provider of advanced communications services to make every feature and function of every device or service acces- sible for every disability. This basically says that not every feature must be accessible, which is particularly relevant to games like Alter Aeon, which have both a graphical interface and pure text-based interfaces for the visually impaired. I definitely agree with the AFB that the FCC should take a very close look at this; but it's pretty obvious to me that it makes sense for a lot of game companies to get waivers for their products. Keep in mind that congress simply provides guidance for the FCC; the FCC makes its own rules, as long as it doesn't conflict with what congress mandates. The proper place to make your voice heard would be to send your concerns to the FCC when the FCC is requesting public comment on its proposed rules. Dennis Towne Alter Aeon MUD http://www.alteraeon.com On Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 9:21 PM, Dean Masters dwmaster...@gmail.com wrote: ALERT!--1 Email from You Can Keep the FCC from Throwing Accessible Gaming Tech Under the Bus!Subject: ALERT!--1 Email from You Can Keep the FCC from Throwing Accessible Gaming Tech Under the Bus! --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
[Audyssey] Fw: ALERT!--1 Email from You Can Keep the FCC from Throwing Accessible Gaming Tech Under the Bus!
ALERT!--1 Email from You Can Keep the FCC from Throwing Accessible Gaming Tech Under the Bus!Subject: ALERT!--1 Email from You Can Keep the FCC from Throwing Accessible Gaming Tech Under the Bus! ALERT!--An Email Today'll Keep the Waiver Away! Tell the FCC to Say NO to Inaccessible Gaming and Communications Technologies! For further information, contact: Mark Richert, Esq. Director, Public Policy, AFB (202) 469-6833 mrich...@afb.net Some time ago, lobbyists representing the highly lucretive gaming technology industry filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking a formal waiver from any requirement stemming from the landmark Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) ensuring that key communications features, such as text chat and other forms of electronic messaging included with their gaming technologies, will be accessible. While the CVAA does permit the FCC to grant waivers in those instances where specific technologies may be both designed and marketed for primary purposes other than the kinds of communication contemplated in the new law, the FCC is nevertheless completely within its authority to refuse to grant waivers for such technologies. There are signs that the FCC may be generally sympathetic to the interest of people with disabilities in accessible gaming technologies that incorporate various kinds of communication. However, it has recently come to our attention that the FCC may be under the impression that people with vision loss themselves are not particularly interested in the accessibility of gaming technologies. Advocates should set them straight. Send a brief email today to Karen Peltz Strauss, Deputy Bureau Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, FCC at karen.stra...@fcc.gov In your short, polite but firm message, tell the FCC how you feel about the ability of people who are blind or visually impaired to fully use the most popular gaming technologies on the market today. Remind the FCC that the growing popularity of gaming technologies in K-12 education to foster learning, use of gaming technologies to increase movement and exercise, and the overall impact of gaming technologies to bring people together, means that the accessibility of such technologies must not be thrown under the bus. Indeed, if the communications features of such technologies are allowed to continue to be inaccessible, kids, adults and seniors with vision loss will continue to be shut out of full participation in school and community and will not be able to enjoy the full benefits afforded by such technologies. Astoundingly, the industry representatives arguing for the waiver say that a waiver of the accessibility requirements of the new law is necessary to allow industry maximum opportunity to innovate and thereby build on their alleged track record of success meeting the access needs of people with disabilities. Tell the FCC what you think of the kind of technological innovation that routinely leaves people with vision loss behind; we're left behind while industry brags about their access accomplishments at the same time they seek legal maneuvers, like the proposed waiver, to shirk their responsibilities. The FCC is expected to act very soon on the proposed waiver, so send your message to the FCC today! You can unsubscribe at any time. To remove your name from this mailing list, or to find out what other newsletters are available from AFB, visit http://www.afb.org/myafbnewsletter.aspx. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] Fw: ALERT!--1 Email from You Can Keep the FCC from Throwing Accessible Gaming Tech Under the Bus!
And give my credit card number out to? Sorry but this sounds like a spam. Even if its true I don't think mass mailing the government would help. If I was bothered I guess I could do that. but they are not worth me actually making something to keep flooding for no reason. I am not exactly that bored either. All these petitions don't exactly go anywhere and I have no confidence. Look at the wayfinder petition. Does anyone have some comment on this. at this point though dean where did you pull this from anyway. At 09:21 p.m. 28/08/2012 -0400, you wrote: ALERT!--1 Email from You Can Keep the FCC from Throwing Accessible Gaming Tech Under the Bus!Subject: ALERT!--1 Email from You Can Keep the FCC from Throwing Accessible Gaming Tech Under the Bus! ALERT!--An Email Today'll Keep the Waiver Away! Tell the FCC to Say NO to Inaccessible Gaming and Communications Technologies! For further information, contact: Mark Richert, Esq. Director, Public Policy, AFB (202) 469-6833 mrich...@afb.net Some time ago, lobbyists representing the highly lucretive gaming technology industry filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking a formal waiver from any requirement stemming from the landmark Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) ensuring that key communications features, such as text chat and other forms of electronic messaging included with their gaming technologies, will be accessible. While the CVAA does permit the FCC to grant waivers in those instances where specific technologies may be both designed and marketed for primary purposes other than the kinds of communication contemplated in the new law, the FCC is nevertheless completely within its authority to refuse to grant waivers for such technologies. There are signs that the FCC may be generally sympathetic to the interest of people with disabilities in accessible gaming technologies that incorporate various kinds of communication. However, it has recently come to our attention that the FCC may be under the impression that people with vision loss themselves are not particularly interested in the accessibility of gaming technologies. Advocates should set them straight. Send a brief email today to Karen Peltz Strauss, Deputy Bureau Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, FCC at karen.stra...@fcc.gov In your short, polite but firm message, tell the FCC how you feel about the ability of people who are blind or visually impaired to fully use the most popular gaming technologies on the market today. Remind the FCC that the growing popularity of gaming technologies in K-12 education to foster learning, use of gaming technologies to increase movement and exercise, and the overall impact of gaming technologies to bring people together, means that the accessibility of such technologies must not be thrown under the bus. Indeed, if the communications features of such technologies are allowed to continue to be inaccessible, kids, adults and seniors with vision loss will continue to be shut out of full participation in school and community and will not be able to enjoy the full benefits afforded by such technologies. Astoundingly, the industry representatives arguing for the waiver say that a waiver of the accessibility requirements of the new law is necessary to allow industry maximum opportunity to innovate and thereby build on their alleged track record of success meeting the access needs of people with disabilities. Tell the FCC what you think of the kind of technological innovation that routinely leaves people with vision loss behind; we're left behind while industry brags about their access accomplishments at the same time they seek legal maneuvers, like the proposed waiver, to shirk their responsibilities. The FCC is expected to act very soon on the proposed waiver, so send your message to the FCC today! You can unsubscribe at any time. To remove your name from this mailing list, or to find out what other newsletters are available from AFB, visit http://www.afb.org/myafbnewsletter.aspx. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have
