Watches
Watches
From the beginning one of Marvin Sandler's
biggest complaints against Maxi-Aids concerned Braille and low-vision watches.
The Maxi-Aids catalog through the second half of the eighties included pictures
of ILA watches, most of which conspicuously included the ILA logo. Sandler
argued that this indicated that Maxi-Aids was using a competitor's photos and
then undercutting its prices. Elliot Zaretsky explained, however implausibly,
The Tab Grabber
The Tab
Grabber
A recurring theme throughout the trial
was the Maxi-Aids practice of advertising one product and substituting another
for it. The tab grabber is a case in point. Marvin Sandler describes this small
tool as an aid to opening soft-drink cans using a slot on one end and opening
bottles using a fluted hole at the other. Sandler says that it is helpful to
people with arthritis and to those like airline cabin personnel who have lots
The Voice Print Telephone
The Voice
Print Telephone
Then there was the Voice Print telephone.
ILA, according to Sandler's testimony, sold one model of this item for $199.95.
Maxi-Aids sold the other model for $149.95. Fifty telephone numbers could be
programmed into the Maxi-Aids version and 100 numbers into the ILA model so
that the user could speak a name and have the phone dial that number. The equipment
was voice-activated. The importer discontinued carrying this product in the
The Department of Veterans Affairs Bids
The Department
of Veterans Affairs Bids
One of the subjects of inquiry during
the trial was Maxi-Aids' efforts to strengthen its hand in the bidding process
conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs. In 1993 the Maxi-Aids bid
on a number of items came in indicating that the vendor was a woman-owned company,
which gave it an advantage. The next year it announced that it was minority-owned.
A Question of Character
A Question of
Character
Setting aside, if that is possible, the
formidable body of evidence of Maxi-Aids' shoddy business practice amassed
during this trial, there is an interesting and significant collection of statements
that shed light on the characters of the people involved. For example, Milton
Kaye, who worked at various times for the American Foundation for the Blind,
Vis-Aids, and ILA developing and designing catalogs, offered two interesting
The Verdict
The Verdict
THE CLERK: I will review the verdict
with you and ask for your responses. As to the federal copyright infringement
claim, question 1. Did the plaintiff Independent Living Aids prove that it
changed the product listing from its non-copyrighted catalogs, so that the
listing as changed in the copyrighted catalogs were removed from the public
domain and were original and protected? THE FOREPERSON: Yes.
THE CLERK: Question two.
Did the plaintiff ILA prove that it is
The 1998 Washington Seminar
CAPTION: President Maurer
holds up the $50,000 check just presented by Mel Smith, Human Relations Manager, Baltimore
District, United Parcel Service
The 1998 Washington
Seminar
by Barbara Pierce
As usual, this year's Washington Seminar started
with a bang several days ahead of the opening briefing with workshops and committee
meetings at both the Holiday Inn, Capitol, our headquarters for the week, and the National
Ed Beck Recognized
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Ed Beck]
Ed Beck Recognized
From the Editor: Ed Beck is a long-time leader of
the National Federation of the Blind of Rhode Island. The following article first appeared
in the August 6, 1997, edition of the Providence Journal-Bulletin. As usual Ed Beck took
an active part in this year's Washington Seminar. This is what a reporter, Richard Salit,
had to say about Ed Beck and his work last summer:
At Eighty-three Edmund Beck Remains a Vigorous
Advocate for the Blind
Arthur Cushen Dies
Arthur Cushen Dies
by Timothy Hendel
From the Editor: Tim Hendel is a member of the
Huntsville chapter of the NFB of Alabama. Since he was a student at the New York State
School for the Blind in Batavia, he has been interested in travel, languages, and
short-wave radio. That is how he first became acquainted with Arthur Cushen and his story.
This is what he says:
A large group of sighted people would tell you
that the only blind person they know is Arthur Cushen. These people share the hobby of
Dialysis at National Convention
Dialysis at National
Convention
by Ed Bryant
From the Editor: Ed Bryant is President of the
Diabetes Action Network, a division of the National Federation of the Blind. This is what
he says about dialysis during the national convention:
Dialysis will be available during this year's
annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind in Dallas, Texas, Saturday, July
4, through Friday, July 10. Those requiring dialysis must have a transient patient packet