Patent Law

DoJ weighs in AGAINST Google Books settlement

By Lawrence B. Ebert, Esq.

The U.S. Justice Department advised a federal judge Friday [Sept. 18] that a proposed legal settlement giving Google Inc. the digital rights to millions of out-of-print books threatens to thwart competition and drive up prices unless it's revised.

As has been the standard in the "patent reform" debate, the competitors noted adverse effects on innovation:

"The current settlement proposal would stifle innovation and competition in favor of a monopoly over the access, distribution, and pricing of the largest collection of digital books in the world," said the Open Book Alliance, a group that includes Amazon.com, Microsoft and another Google rival, Yahoo Inc.

With names like "Open Book Alliance" and "Coalition for Patent Fairness", one can only think back to issues in the naming of the Bolsheviks.

**See also
http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2009/01/googles-scanning-of-books.html

Full post as published by IPBiz on September 19, 2009 (boomark / email).