Tom WESLEY, Iain MILLNS, Univ. BRADFORD (United-Kingdom)
1. Introduction
The SEDODEL (Secure Document Delivery for Blind and Partially Sighted People) project addresses the information needs of blind and partially sighted people, who have almost no access to the vast range of information the general population takes for granted [1]. Electronic information is the key to providing these people with the greatly increased access to information they need. However, it is difficult to obtain electronic information, for creating accessible documents in forms such as braille, large print, and synthetic speech, because authors and publishers realise how easily they can lose control of their intellectual property rights (particularly copyright). Electronic documents can be copied perfectly, modified at will and distributed world wide almost instantaneously! As Burger and Miesenburger argued [2], it is necessary to create a secure document delivery service to overcome this problem.
SEDODEL aims to create, verify, and demonstrate a pilot secure document delivery service, which will meet the information needs of blind and partially sighted people, and guarantee the rights and obligations of actors in the publishing chain. It will achieve this by integrating two key technologies: Electronic Copyright Management Systems (ECMS) and accessible electronic documents. SEDODEL will give publishers the confidence to distribute electronic copies of their publications to organisations of and for the blind and partially sighted, and to blind and partially sighted people directly. This extended abstract explains the copyright problem, its affects on the Information Society, and the need for new European copyright legislation. It describes enabling technologies, such as the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), ECMS, and the World Wide Web (WWW). It also describes the features of SEDODEL.
2. Access to information
The key enabling technologies for increasing access to information for blind and partially sighted people are structured electronic documents, and the developing infrastructures of the Internet and WWW.
Electronic documents can be structured with markup languages, such as the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), or the Extensible Markup Language (XML). These languages separate the structure of a document from its physical layout. Structured electronic documents can be transformed into accessible formats, such as braille, large print, or synthetic speech. The Internet and WWW are of great significance to blind and partially sighted people. For the first time, it is possible to have online access to global information by using cheap off-the-shelf components. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has recognised this significance, and created the important Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) [3]
3. Copyright and the Information Society
The issues of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and copyright are affecting the development of the Information Society, as a background document [4] on Electronic Commerce in the EC’s IT Programme explains:
‘The Internet is one gigantic copying machine. ¼ The revenue generated by Intellectual Property is threatened by this new environment. ... Besides threats on existing or emerging market applications, new innovative applications, likely to generate new markets, could be created if IPR owners were confident that their property is appropriately protected against piracy and misuse. Such novel applications will start to shape the economy of the future’.
5. Intellectual Property Rights Management
ECMS are used for the IPR management of electronic information. ECMS provide authors, publishers, and distributors of digital objects with tamper resistant mechanisms for identifying and tattooing copyrighted materials, and monitoring access to and usage of these materials in such a way that copyright holders can legitimately receive their royalties.
SEDODEL uses the CopySMART ECMS [5]. CopySMART’s end user software is implemented on a standard Windows PC with a smart card reader. Individual users have their own smart cards, which contain identification and authentication of the user together with the use rights granted by the service provider. The Tide project SATURN has designed a set of smart card data structures for disabled and elderly people, which have been incorporated into a Draft European Prestandard issued by CEN [6]. If the Draft becomes a European Standard in time, SEDODEL will adopt the new smart card format.
7. The constraints of copyright legislation
SEDODEL recognises that a technology only approach is not sufficient to make real progress in the integration of visually impaired people in the information society. Therefore, in parallel with the development, evaluation and demonstration actions, SEDODEL will produce recommendations for changes in European copyright legislation.
9. Features of SEDODEL
SEDODEL will integrate a number of existing and developing technologies. Documents will be structured using a markup language, such as SGML or XML. CopySMART will wrap the structured documents in a secure envelope. The secure envelope can include digital identification, such as tattooing, to ensure ownership, data integrity, and traceability, together with encryption for privacy. The contractual conditions relating to the information are bound together with this securely wrapped information. These conditions are specific for a particular information distribution service, and are developed by creating a business model that covers the roles of actors in the service. The securely wrapped accessible information is distributed to the end user. This may involve the mediation of organisations of and for the blind and partially sighted, or may be direct from producer or publisher. The technical mechanisms for information delivery are independent of CopySMART; possibilities include physical media (such as CD-ROM) or open networks such as the Internet and WWW.
The information is accessed by the end user on a CopySMART enabled PC running Windows. The end user’s access rights are encoded on a personal smart card, which the application reads and interprets. The application unwraps the information and allows the user to access the information only in accordance with the specific user rights. The information will be accessed by a Document Reader, which will enable visually impaired users to read the information using their own access technology, such as screen readers, braille displays and large print systems. Use of the information will be monitored by CopySMART, which deals with access control, clearing of rights, traceability, audit files, proofs of usage and handling of payments.
9. Conclusion
The anticipated results are: the implementation and operation of a secure document delivery service for blind and partially sighted people, the extension of CopySMART to the needs of blind and partially sighted people, and recommendations for changes in European copyright legislation. The secure service should give publishers the confidence to release to organisations of and for the blind and partially sighted (and to blind and partially sighted people directly) electronic copies of their publications, thereby greatly enhancing access to information.
Acknowledgement
SEDODEL, Project DE4001, is part funded by DGXIII of the European Commission under the Disabled and Elderly Sector of the Telematics Applications Programme.
Literature
The growth of the information society is creating dramatic changes in the accessibility of information for blind and partially sighted people. Electronic documents can be transformed into a variety of accessible formats, such as braille, synthetic speech, and large print. Furthermore, the Internet and the World Wide Web allow blind and partially sighted people to access information relatively cheaply and provide greatly enhanced service delivery opportunities for organisations of and for the blind and partially sighted.
However, the very properties of electronic documents, which are so valuable for the blind and partially sighted, also underlie one of the biggest hurdles: that of the copyright problem. Publishers are reluctant to provide electronic copies of their texts to organisations of and for the blind or to individual users because of legitimate fears about losing control of their intellectual property rights. As Burger and Miesenburger argued [2], it is necessary to create a secure document delivery service to overcome this problem. Without clear safeguarding of intellectual property rights, and in particular, a well developed mechanism for collecting payments for the use of such rights, it is doubtful whether publishers will be willing to provide easy access to electronic versions of their publications.
The SEDODEL Project aims to create, verify, and demonstrate a pilot secure document delivery service, which will maintain and guarantee the rights and obligations of actors in the publishing chain and meet the needs of the visually impaired for increased access to information. It will achieve this by integrating two technologies: Electronic Copyright Management Systems (ECMS) and accessible electronic documents. The secure service gives publishers the confidence to release to organisations of and for the blind and partially sighted (and to end-users directly) electronic copies of their publications.
Section 2 describes enabling technologies for the blind and partially sighted, such as SGML and the World Wide Web. Section 3 explains the affects of the copyright problem on the Information Society, while section 4 specifies the requirements for secure document delivery. Section 5 describes ECMS, and the CopySMART ECMS in particular. Section 6 explains how smart cards can be used for people with special needs. In section 7, the need for new European copyright legislation for blind and partially sighted people is discussed. Sections 8 and 9 describe the needs of SEDODEL users and the features of SEDODEL respectively.
The key enabling technologies for increasing access to information for blind and partially sighted people are structured electronic documents and the developing infrastructures of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Within Europe, the results of the EU TIDE Programme projects, CAPS and HARMONY [3] have greatly contributed to this consensus. The state-of-the-art can be summarised:
There is a clear recognition that the development of the Information Society is being affected by issues relating to Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in general, and copyright in particular. As a background document [7] on Electronic Commerce in the European Commission’s IT Programme explains:
‘The new digital environment which sustains the emergence of the Information Society dramatically changes the economics of content. The Internet is one gigantic copying machine. All copyrighted works can now be digitised and, once put on the Net or on any particular off-line medium, copying tends to be effortless, costless, widespread and immediate. In the past, copying intellectual works has been time consuming and the reproductions most of the time worse than the original. Digital technology has changed this: copying is straight-forward and the quality of copies is as good as the original. The idea that intellectual property in a digital environment can lose its value is of great concern to owners and creators.
‘While the primary objective of copyright laws was the widespread distribution of thoughts, profit is the fuel that carries ideas into the public. Intellectual property represents a huge business where many modern products sell, not for what the physical object costs to make, but for a price that reflects heavy research costs, ingenious ideas or creative content. The revenue generated by Intellectual Property is threatened by this new environment. ... Besides threats on existing or emerging market applications, new innovative applications, likely to generate new markets, could be created if IPR owners were confident that their property is appropriately protected against piracy and misuse. Such novel applications will start to shape the economy of the future where most human exchanges will be virtual rather than physical and where relationship will take more importance than possession.
‘Controlling the distribution and the usage of IPR protected digital material has become a major concern to the emergence of electronic commerce applications dealing with immaterial goods. Techniques, partly developed in ESPRIT projects, are emerging to build interoperable Electronic Copyright Management Systems (ECMS) fitting a variety of business models. ECMS now need to be integrated into real electronic commerce applications that will generate new opportunities for the Information Society.’
Although the developing Information Society promises much for the visually impaired, its full realisation for them will not be possible without secure document delivery systems:
IPR management of electronic information is technically achieved by Electronic Copyright Management Systems (ECMS). These cover a wide range of IT systems which aim at providing authors, publishers, and distributors of digital objects with tamper resistant mechanisms for identifying and tattooing copyrighted materials and monitoring access to and usage of these materials in such a way that copyright holders can legitimately receive their royalties.
In [8], Kouka identifies the following mechanisms used by ECMS:
SEDODEL uses the CopySMART ECMS [9].
5.1 The CopySMART ECMS
CopySMART is a leading, state-of-the-art ECMS, which allows the originator of digital copyrighted material to specify appropriate licensing conditions. It then tightly links these legal technical conditions of use (for example, which actors are allowed to copy or to print) with the material itself. This seamless link persists even if the material is transmitted, sub-licensed or inserted into other digital material; the material is useless if the attached links cannot be deployed properly. The CopySMART based ECMS provides the end-user with client software which can deploy the packaged material, monitor access to its content and monitor usage operations performed on it according to the privileges the user is granted. These functions record accesses and operations performed by the users as well as detected attempts of illicit usage. This data is used for billing the user when the performed usage operations are payable, and for keeping proofs of transactions which take place on the protected material, in order that royalties can be paid.
CopySMART’s end user software is implemented on a standard Windows PC with a smart card reader. Individual users have their own smart cards, which contain identification and authentication of the user together with the use rights granted by the service provider.
The TIDE project SATURN: Smart Card and Terminal Usability Requirements and Needs [10] studied the needs of disabled and elderly people in relation to systems accessed by smart cards. SATURN developed a set of data structures which can be coded on a smart card to define specific user preferences for aspects such as text size, colour and use of braille. These data structures can then be used by the system application to modify the user interface to suit a particular user’s special needs.
Many of SATURN’s concepts are incorporated into a new Draft European Prestandard issued by CEN [11]. If this Draft successfully becomes a formal European Standard in time, SEDODEL will modify the CopySMART smart card format and associated software to incorporate the standard in its final form.
While technology developments can provide the basic enabling functionalities they are not, in themselves, sufficient. The underlying copyright legislation, by not explicitly recognising the special needs of blind and partially sighted people, acts as a major constraint for the provision of increased access to information.
While there are detailed differences in laws in the fifteen Member States, generally there is an implicit (but incorrect) assumption that everybody can use printed materials.
Many organisations of and for the blind and partially sighted think that European Copyright Legislation should take into account the specific needs of the visually impaired. This would allow the legislation to act as a positive force for increasing the integration of blind and partially sighted people, rather than, as at present, acting as a negative constraint. The United States has recently enacted such changes to its copyright legislation so that the permission of publishers or copyright owners is not required if an authorised entity reproduces or distributes works in a specialised format (such as digital text) for the exclusive use of blind persons [12].
Recently, a proposal for a Directive harmonising aspects of rules on copyright and related rights in the Information Society has been published by the European Commission [13]. The proposal envisages that Member States would have the option of applying exceptions for non-commercial uses for the benefit of visually-impaired or hearing-impaired people. While it is encouraging that there should be some recognition of the special needs of people with disabilities, this proposal is very limited and is far from the implementation of an inclusive ‘design for all’ ideal.
SEDODEL recognises that a technology only approach is not sufficient to make real progress in the integration of visually impaired people in the information society. Therefore, in parallel with the development, evaluation and demonstration actions, SEDODEL will produce recommendations for appropriate changes to be incorporated into European legislation.
SEDODEL addresses the needs of three distinct sets of users: blind and partially sighted people, publishers, and organisations of and for the blind.
For blind and partially sighted people to be fully integrated into society they need access to the total range of written information that is available to the general population—but in a form that is appropriate, given their disability. This, in effect, means electronic forms which can be easily converted into accessible formats such as braille, large print or synthetic speech, and can be easily distributed on open networks such as the World Wide Web.
Publishers and all parts of the publishing chain need to be sure of reward and be confident that illicit copying and modification is not possible. Electronic documents are easily copied (the copy is identical to the original and can be copied indefinitely), are easily modified and easily distributed world wide. Ensuring that authors and publishers rights are respected, that appropriate access control mechanisms are in place, and that payments are collected for the use of electronic documents, is vital for publisher confidence.
Providers of accessible materials for the blind and partially sighted, such as the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), will be able to provide a much more efficient service if information is easily available in standardised electronic forms from publishers, and if the copyright issues are automatically taken care of, instead of being a major deterrent to the release of electronic materials.
SEDODEL will pilot an innovative service for the distribution of information to blind and partially sighted people. This will be based on a set of generic applications created by the integration of existing and developing technologies. The system’s main features are:
The anticipated results of SEDODEL include: practical experience in the implementation and operation of a secure delivery system for accessible electronic documents for blind and partially sighted people; the extension of the CopySMART ECMS to the needs of blind and partially sighted people; recommendations for appropriate changes to be incorporated into European copyright legislation which will address the specific needs of the visually impaired. Above all, the secure service should give publishers the confidence to release to organisations of and for the blind and partially sighted (and to end users directly) electronic copies of their publications, thereby greatly enhancing access to information.
SEDODEL, Project DE4001, is part funded by DGXIII of the European Commission under the Disabled and Elderly Sector of the Telematics Applications Programme.
Tom WESLEY, Iain MILLNS, Univ. BRADFORD (United-Kingdom)
Introduction
Le projet SEDODEL (livraison protégée de documents pour les non-voyants et les déficients visuels) répond aux besoins d'informations des personnes non-voyantes et déficientes visuelles, qui n'ont pratiquement pas accès à l'immense choix d'informations qui semble tout naturel aux gens en général (1). L'information électronique est la clé pour fournir à ces personnes l'accès à l'information nettement accru dont elles ont besoin. Toutefois, il est difficile d'obtenir des informations électroniques pour créer des documents accessibles sous des formes telles que le braille, les gros caractères ou la parole de synthèse, parce que les auteurs et les éditeurs sont conscients qu'ils risquent très facilement de perdre le contrôle de leurs droits de propriété intellectuelle (en particulier des droits d'auteur). Les documents électroniques peuvent être parfaitement copiés, modifiés à volonté et distribués dans le monde entier, presque instantanément ! Comme Burger et Miesenburger l'ont démontré (2), il est nécessaire de créer un service de livraison protégée des documents pour surmonter ce problème.
Le SEDODEL a pour but de créer, de tester et de décrire un service pilote de livraison protégée des documents, qui répondra aux besoins d'informations des non-voyants et des déficients visuels et garantira les droits et les obligations des acteurs de la chaîne de publication. Ce résultat sera obtenu en intégrant deux technologies clés : les Systèmes Electroniques de Gestion des Droits d'Auteur (ECMS) et des documents électroniques accessibles. Le SEDODEL donnera aux éditeurs la confiance nécessaire pour distribuer des exemplaires de leurs publications aux organisations de et pour non-voyants et déficients visuels, et directement aux non-voyants et déficients visuels eux-mêmes. Cet article explique le problème des droits d'auteur, comment il touche la Société de l'Information, et la nécessité d'une nouvelle législation européenne sur les droits d'auteur. Il décrit les technologies habilitantes, comme le Langage de Création de Liens Standard Généralisé (SGML), l'ECMS et le World Wide Web. Il décrit également les fonctions de SEDODEL et les besoins des utilisateurs de SEDODEL.
L'accès à l'information
Les technologies habilitantes clés pour accroître l'accès à l'information des non-voyants et des déficients visuels sont les documents électroniques structurés, et les infrastructures en cours de développement d'Internet et du WWW.
Les documents électroniques peuvent être structurés avec des langages de création de liens, comme le Langage de Création de Liens Normalisé Généralisé (SGML), le Langage de Création de Liens d'Hypertexte (HTML), ou le Langage Extensible de Création de Liens (XML). Ces langages séparent la structure d'un document de sa mise en forme physique. Les documents électroniques structurés peuvent être convertis en des formats adéquats, comme le braille, les gros caractères ou la parole de synthèse. Internet et le WWW ont une importance considérable pour les non-voyants et les déficients visuels. Pour la première fois, il est possible d'avoir accès en ligne à l'information à l'échelle mondiale au moyen de composants peu coûteux et à la portée de tous. Le World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) a reconnu cette importance et mis sur pied l'Initiative pour l'Accessibilité du Web (WAI) (3).
Les droits d'auteur et la Société de l'Information
Les problèmes de droits de propriété intellectuelle et de droits d'auteur affectent le développement de la Société de l'Information, comme l'explique un document d'information (4) sur le Commerce Electronique du programme de Technologie de l'Information de l'Union Européenne :
"Internet est une gigantesque machine à copier... Les revenus générés par la Propriété Intellectuelle sont menacés par ce nouvel environnement... En dehors des menaces contre les applications du marché existantes ou à venir, de nouvelles applications innovantes, susceptibles de créer de nouveaux marchés, pourraient être élaborées si les détenteurs de droits de propriété intellectuelle pouvaient être persuadés que leur propriété est correctement protégée contre le piratage et le détournement. De telles applications novatrices commenceront à modeler l'économie de l'avenir."
La gestion des droits de propriété intellectuelle
Les ECMS sont utilisés pour la gestion des droits de propriété intellectuelle des informations électroniques. Les ECMS fournissent aux auteurs, aux éditeurs et aux distributeurs d'objets numériques des mécanismes inviolables d'identification et de tatouage de documents soumis à droits d'auteur, et de contrôle de l'accès à ces documents et de leur utilisation permettant aux détenteurs des droits d'auteur de recevoir les droits qui leur reviennent.
SEDODEL utilise l'ECMS CopySMART (5). Le logiciel d'utilisateur final de CopySMART fonctionne sur un PC sous Windows classique avec un lecteur de carte à puce. Chaque utilisateur a sa carte à puce personnelle contenant l'identification et l'authentification de l'utilisateur ainsi que les droits d'utilisation accordés par le fournisseur de services. Le projet Tide SATURN a conçu une série de structures de données de cartes à puce pour les personnes âgées et handicapées, qui ont été incorporées dans un Avant-Projet de Norme Européenne publié par le CEN (6). Si cet avant-projet devient à terme une Norme Européenne, SEDODEL adoptera le nouveau format de carte à puce.
Les contraintes de la législation sur les droits d'auteur
SEDODEL reconnaît qu'une approche basée uniquement sur la technologie ne suffit pas à faire progresser réellement l'intégration des déficients visuels à la société de l'information. Par conséquent, parallèlement au développement, à l'évaluation et aux actions de démonstration, SEDODEL émettra des recommandations pour modifier la législation européenne sur les droits d'auteur.
Fonctions de SEDODEL
SEDODEL intégrera un certain nombre de technologies existantes et en cours de développement. Les documents seront structurés à l'aide d'un langage de création de liens comme SGML ou XML. CopySMART entourera les documents structurés d'une enveloppe de protection. Cette enveloppe de protection comprendra l'identification numérique, comme un tatouage, pour garantir la propriété, l'intégrité des données et la repérabilité, ainsi qu'un encodage pour garantir la confidentialité. Les conditions contractuelles relatives aux informations sont attachées à ces informations bien protégées. Les conditions sont particulières à chaque service de distribution des informations, et sont élaborées en créant un modèle commercial tenant compte du rôle des acteurs du service. L'information accessible ainsi protégée est distribuée à l'utilisateur final. Cela peut se faire par l'intermédiaire d'organisations de et pour non-voyants et déficients visuels, ou directement du producteur ou de l'éditeur. Les mécanismes techniques de livraison des informations sont indépendants de CopySMART ; il peut par exemple s'agir de supports physiques (comme les CD-ROM) ou de réseaux ouverts comme Internet et le WWW.
L'utilisateur final a accès à l'information au moyen d'un PC sous Windows habilité par CopySMART. Les droits d'accès de l'utilisateur final sont encodés sur une carte à puce personnelle, que l'application lit et interprète. L'application ne déprotège l'information et ne permet à l'utilisateur d'y accéder qu'en fonction de ses droits d'utilisateur particuliers. L'accès à l'information se fera au moyen d'un Lecteur de Documents, qui permettra aux utilisateurs déficients visuels de lire les informations au moyen de leur propre technologie d'accès, comme les éditeurs d'écran, les afficheurs braille et les systèmes de grossissement de caractères. L'utilisation de l'information sera contrôlée par CopySMART, qui se charge du contrôle d'accès, de l'acquittement des droits, de la repérabilité, des fichiers d'audit, des preuves d'utilisation et de la gestion des paiements.
Conclusion
Les résultats attendus sont : la mise sur pied et l'exploitation d'un système de livraison protégée des documents pour les non-voyants et les déficients visuels, l'extension de CopySMART aux besoins des non-voyants et des déficients visuels, et des recommandations pour une modification de la législation européenne sur les droits d'auteur. Le service protégé devrait donner confiance aux éditeurs pour fournir des copies électroniques de leurs publications aux organisations de et pour non-voyants et déficients visuels, améliorant ainsi considérablement l'accès à l'information.
Remerciement
SEDODEL, Projet DE4001, est en partie financé par DGXIII de la Commission Européenne dans le cadre du Secteur des Personnes Agées et Handicapées du Programme des Applications Télématiques.
Documentation
[1]Les membres du Consortium SEDODEL sont : Université de Bradford, Coordinateur (Royaum-Uni), British Library (Royaume-Uni), EURITIS SA (FR), INSERM (FR), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE), Open University (Royaume-Uni), Royal National Institute for the Blind (Royaume-Uni). Le projet d'une durée de deux ans prendra fin en Mars 2000. URL: http://www.arttic.com/projects/SEDODEL/
[2]Burger F., Miesenburger K. (1996). Secure Distribution System for Publications in Electronic Form – Architecture of a system to provide access to publications for visually impaired readers while guaranteeing the rights to authors and publishers. Dans: Interdisciplinary Aspects on Computers Helping People with Special Needs, 5th International Conference, ICCHP ’96, Linz, Austria, 16-19 July 1996, Schriftenreihe der Österreichischen Computer Gesellschaft, Band 87, Oldenbourg, Vienne, ISBN 3-7029-0413-1
[3]Initiative pour l'Accessibilité du Web URL: http://www.w3.org/WAI/
[4]Electronic Commerce Issues: Intellectual Property Rights, Dominique Gonthier URL: http://www.ispo.cec.be/ecommerce/ipr.htm
[5]CopySMART: ESPRIT Projet 20517. URL: http://www.arttic.com/projects/Copysmart/
[6]Identification Card Systems - Man–Machine Interface Part 4: Coding of User Requirements for People with Special Needs, European Prestandards, Avant-projet prEN 1332-4, 10 Octobre 1996, CEN.
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