US Dept of Justice still objects to Google Books

Cites continued anti-competitive advantages & copyright concerns

[Syzygy]

More news in the Google Books saga. It seems that the US Department of Justice has waded in again.

The US Department of Justice has said that it is still not satisfied with a deal that would allow search giant Google to build a vast digital library. It said the plan failed to address antitrust and copyright concerns.

"The amended settlement agreement still confers significant and possibly anti-competitive advantages on Google as a single entity," the DOJ said.
It said that the agreement would allow the Google to be "the only competitor in the digital marketplace with the rights to distribute and otherwise exploit a vast array of works in multiple formats".

The DOJ also go on to criticise Google for it's opt out policy. The book publishing industry in the USA also comes in for a bashing because they had "...inappropriately spoken for foreign authors and for authors of 'orphan works'."

Orphan books - of which there are thought to be five million - are titles where the authors cannot be found. The DoJ said that Google's exclusive access to these orphan works "remains unaddressed, producing a less than optimal result from a competition standpoint."

From: [news.bbc.co.uk...]