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Two Texas Congressmen have asked the U.S. of Justice to ensure that the proposed Google Books Settlement not hurt minority publishers and small businesses. The department is scheduled to file its view of the amended settlement in federal court on Thursday.
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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.
Press Release
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.
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission should block the planned
acquisition because it would diminish competition in the mobile- ad
market, consumer groups said
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission should block Google
Inc.’s planned acquisition of AdMob Inc. because the deal would
diminish competition in the mobile-advertising market, two consumer
groups said. The takeover would give Google dominance in mobile advertising and hurt consumers, the Center for Digital Democracy and Consumer Watchdog said in a statement today. The groups said they sent a joint letter to the FTC.
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WASHINGTON — Two consumer groups urged the US Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) on Monday to block Internet search and advertising giant Google’s
proposed purchase of mobile advertising company AdMob. In a joint letter, Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital
Democracy (CDD) asked the FTC to oppose Google’s acquisition of AdMob
on anti-trust grounds and said the deal also raises privacy concerns.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
