Tag Archive | "going to court"
Last-Minute Objections Filed To Google Book Settlement
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Critics of the revised legal settlement with US authors and publishers that would allow Google to scan and sell millions of books online filed a flurry of last-minute objections on Thursday. Consumer Watchdog said "the revised settlement suffers from the same fundamental problems as its predecessor." It said it notably fails to do enough to protect reader privacy, violates copyright laws and gives "unfair competitive advantages to Google."
Continue reading...Groups File Briefs In Google Books Case
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Consumer Watchdog urged the court to reject the settlement, saying it's anticompetitive and violates U.S. and international law. "This scheme acts to the disadvantage of absent class members and would result in unfair competitive advantages to Google in the search engine, electronic book sales, and other markets, to the detriment of the public interest. Along the way, the settlement raises significant international law and privacy concerns," the group said in it's brief.
Continue reading...Consumer Watchdog Urges Court To Reject Amended Google Books Deal
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Brief Argues Books Settlement Continues Steal From Absent Class Members, Remains Anti-Competitive WASHINGTON, DC -- Consumer Watchdog today filed a brief urging a federal court to reject the revised Google Books settlement because it is remains anticompetitive and violates both U.S. and international law.
Continue reading...Advocacy Groups Urge FTC To Bar Google-AdMob Deal
Monday, December 28, 2009
WASHINGTON D.C. - Two advocacy groups asked U.S. antitrust regulators on Monday to block Google's purchase of AdMob, a provider of advertising services for mobile phones, on antitrust grounds and to address privacy issues raised by the deal. Consumer Watchdog, a consumer advocacy organization, and the Center for Digital Democracy, an advocate of open access to the Internet, said in a letter to the Federal Trade Commission that the proposed deal would "substantially lessen competition in the increasingly important mobile advertising market."
Continue reading...Judge Rejects Amazon Bid To Scrap Google Pact
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
NEW YORK - A federal judge has rejected Amazon.com Inc's request that he withdraw preliminary approval of a settlement between Google Inc and groups of authors and publishers to digitize millions of books. Critics of the deal have been a varied group that includes Amazon, Yahoo, Microsoft, the National Writers Union, Consumer Watchdog and singer Arlo Guthrie.
Continue reading...Google’s Book-Scan Deal Is Not Solid Yet
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Google Inc.'s settlement with authors and publishers over the digital scanning of books got a preliminary approval from a federal judge last week, but the controversy may be far from over. In fact, legal experts and industry observers who have been closely following the case believe the fight over Google's ambitious book-scanning efforts is just starting all over again.
Continue reading...Antitrust Concerns Linger In Google Books Deal
Monday, November 16, 2009
The revised Google Books settlement agreement may quiet international opponents, but it still gives Google a monopoly on commercializing out-of-print books where the copyrights are unclaimed and fails to protect consumer privacy, opponents said on Monday. Also troubling to critics is the fact that the revised settlement circumvents traditional copyright provisions by allowing Google to digitize orphan works without first getting rights holder permission, while any Google competitors are blocked from doing so barring legislation granting them licensing rights. "For the millions of volumes of orphan books that Google has already scanned in, they can offer those without risk of anyone coming forward and suing them for infringement," said John Simpson, a consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog.
Continue reading...Political Parties, Candidates Cashing In On Pay-To-Play Issues Forums
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Top industry executives piled into Google's Silicon Valley headquarters over the weekend to hear California's Barbara Boxer, New Mexico's Jeff Bingaman and other Democratic senators discuss some of the most pressing policy issues on Capitol Hill. Consumer Watchdog urged the seven Democratic senators on the agenda for the weekend's Google event to boycott it, since it created the appearance of "pay-to-play politics when so many issues of concern to Google and the rest of the Silicon Valley technology community are on the table."
Continue reading...Google submits revised digital book settlement to US judge
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Google and US authors and publishers submitted a revised settlement to a US judge Friday seeking approval of an agreement that would clear the way for millions of books to be sold online. Rival technology companies, privacy advocates, consumer watchdog groups and the French and German governments are among those who filed objections to the original settlement with the US District Court in New York hearing the case.
Continue reading...Google, Authors Try To Answer Book Deal Concerns
Saturday, November 14, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Google and the Authors Guild filed a new version of a deal to create a massive online library on Friday in hopes of answering antitrust and copyright concerns in the United States and overseas. Critics of the deal have been a varied group that includes Yahoo, Amazon, Microsoft, the National Writers Union, Consumer Watchdog and singer Arlo Guthrie.
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Friday, January 29, 2010
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