Archive | Tag: corporateering

News Clipping

A proposed settlement in a copyright lawsuit involving Google’s book search has drawn applause, envy, and from a handful of critics, an attempt to derail the deal. While most groups concerned with Google’s singular access to orphan
works are considering filing briefs with the court before a June 11
hearing, at least one group, Consumer Watchdog, is asking the Justice
Department to intervene and plans a meeting on Monday with department
officials. "Google’s going to have an unfair advantage against any competitor
because they will have already settled this issue," said Consumer
Watchdog President Jamie Court.

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News Clipping

Complaints over Google’s sweeping digital books settlement have reached a boiling point. And now, a familiar Google nemesis has called on the US Department of
Justice to scrutinize the Book Search pact. Today, the consumer
watchdog known only as Consumer Watchdog tossed a letter at US Attorney
General Eric Holder and other DoJ officials, asking them to delay the
settlement until some changes are made. Consumer Watchdog is the consumer watchdog that Google famously tried to snuff out after taking issue with its press release tactics.

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News Clipping

Traditional media is once again rattling sabers in the direction of Google and other sites that aggregate the news. There’s tough talk coming from managers at The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press that include threats of legal challenges and even name calling. Google’s plan to scan orphan books and preserve them in a database is
also being challenged. Google has an agreement with the The Authors
Guild and the Association of American Publishers to scan the books, but
a group called Consumer Watchdog says the agreement is anticompetitive
and has called on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to intervene.

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News Clipping

With May 5 the deadline for filing objections to Google’s settlement
with the AAP and the Authors Guild, the consumer advocacy group
Consumer Watchdog has sent a letter to the Justice Department asking
the department to delay the settlement, which still needs court
approval. The letter cites two objections to the agreement: a so-called
“most favored nation” clause and the mechanism to deal with orphan
works. The group maintains that because the settlement was negotiated
between Google and the AAP/authors, there was no one representing the
public interest in what Consumer Watchdog calls an agreement that will
transform publishing.

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News Clipping

While much mainstream news coverage of the pending Google Book
Search settlement has focused on the potential boon to researchers,
concerns raised by librarians and consumers have begun to hit critical
mass. One sign was a front-page article in the April 4 New York Times, headlined Google’s Plan for Out-of-Print Books Is Challenged, which noted that two sets of academics plan to intervene in the settlement. Consumer Watchdog,
a public interest group in Southern California, also has asked the
Justice Department to intervene in the case to “serve the public
interest,” Helft noted.

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News Clipping

Google’s recent and far-flung attempt to digitize the world’s "orphan"
books, or out-of-print tomes that remain under copyright but whose
rights-holders cannot be found, may soon hit a roadblock in the form of
the U.S. Department of Justice, at least if a consumer group gets its
wish. John Simpson, a consumer advocate for Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit
consumer advocacy organization, wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General
Eric Holder asking the government to intervene in Google’s recent
settlement with The Authors Guild and the Association of American
Publishers (AAP).

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News Clipping

Google Health has a new feature that lets users share medical information with others through an e-mail link. Google has tried to take safety measures. A link to a shared profile
will only work in connection with the specified e-mail address, so the
link does not work if it is forwarded. Also, all links expire after 30
days. Jamie Court, president of the Washington D.C.-based consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog doesn’t think that’s enough. "Doctors and hospitals have a duty to keep this information
confidential, but others don’t," he told The Industry Standard. "In the
hands of the wrong workplace colleague, friend or vendor, this
information could be used against patients."

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