Text to Speech Becomes Legal Question For New Read-Aloud Kindle

Text to speech is part of what is happening on the Internet. Writers have material that is read aloud. Now, however, there is a question about it on a different form. Will it affect other written material as well.
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Here’s what the issue is all about. Jeff Fezo introduced Kindle2 early week. This is a device that allows a number of books to be downloaded and read on a device that has a screen. It also includes a read-a-loud function. That is the kind of function that benefits non readers, the blind and the just busy folk.

The problem is that audio books and printed books are treated differently. Just because an individual has an audio book doesn’t mean that he or she can get the printed version free, at least that’s what the Author’s Guild proclaims. It believes that having this text to speech function in Kindle 2 is against the law and is challenging it. Amazon that sells the device, however, is countering the challenge.

This won’t be an easy contest, as is revealed in the discussion because Kindle 2 advocates and others believe that text-to-speech isn’t the same as an audio book and shouldn’t be treated as such. They maintain that having the extra feature is like having bedtime reading available. The writer’s group, however, wants the audio function disabled.

This raises questions for websites like Digital Journal where writers have articles and also text-to-speech embedded on the articles. The articles can be downloaded onto a device like an iPod and then read aloud. The writers release the printed version for publication. This is similar to other organizations where writers post material that can be read aloud.
Will the Kindle business affect them too?

This may also cause problems for developers of text-to-speech software. How might the present quarrel affect their products and sales?

It will be interesting to watch the results of this legal wrangle and who wins with it, so that the tech world can go on with its business as usual.

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BY Carol Forsloff
Source：DIGITAL JOURNAL

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