Amazon, Microsoft to join effort against Google book settlement |
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Amazon, Microsoft to join effort against Google book settlement
Google's proposed legal settlement with book publishers and authors has generated a fair amount of criticism since it was announced last October. Now some of the tech industry's other giants are joining forces in an effort to scuttle the deal. Amazon.com, Microsoft, and Yahoo are joining a coalition that will try to get the court system and regulators to reject the settlement, which opens the door for Google's massive book-scanning project, according to reports.
Gary Reback, an antitrust lawyer in Silicon Valley, who is acting as counsel to the coalition said that Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo have all agreed to join the effort. The group, which is tentatively called the Open Book Alliance, plans to make the case to the Justice Department that the deal is anticompetitive. It also plans to file briefs with the court opposing the agreement.
Reback played a role in the federal antitrust case against Microsoft in the 1990s. Another figure leading the coalition is Peter Brantley of the San Francisco-based Internet Archive, reports indicate.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos recently signaled his displeasure with the Google book settlement, saying "it doesn't seem right that you should get a prize for violating a large series of copyrights" and hinting that the settlement should be "revisited." Asked about the reports of Amazon's involvement in the coalition, company spokeswoman Cinthia Portugal said, "We do not comment on rumor or speculation."
Google certainly represents a growing threat to Amazon's move into electronic books. The search giant is not only putting millions of older books online, scanned from major libraries -- it's making noises about selling new release books as well, which would go head-to-head with Amazon's Kindle business. Already, Sony and Barnes & Noble, which have e-book offerings that compete with Amazon, have made deals with Google giving them access to thousands of scanned Google books.
The complex Google book settlement would end a class-action suit brought in 2005. Among other things, it gives copyright holders of out-of-print books who opt into the deal a share of advertising and other revenue.
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