http://www.openbookalliance.org Open Book Alliance Sat, 03 Dec 2011 00:03:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Everyone knows Google has scanned tens of millions of books, including over 3 million books in the public domain, and that it got most of these books from many different libraries, public and private. What most don’t know is that Google forces those libraries to use technology to restrict Internet access ... http://www.openbookalliance.org/2011/12/prying-open-google%e2%80%99s-closed-books/ In what has become almost frighteningly routine, the three parties to the disgraced and rejected Google Book Settlement were in court again today to update Judge Chin on the status of their case.  The news coverage is focusing on a few interesting developments – “progress” between Google and the publishers, ... http://www.openbookalliance.org/2011/09/survivor-google-edition/ The news that Google’s partners in the ill-fated Google Book Settlement at the Authors Guild have recently filed a lawsuit against HathiTrust, the consortium of university libraries that has received book scans from Google, is just one more sign of the unraveling deal.  In light of the expected demise of ... http://www.openbookalliance.org/2011/09/googles-friends-running-for-the-hills/ As we approach the September 15th status update which could signal the end of the road for the Google Books Settlement (especially now that the Authors Guild has filed a lawsuit against HathiTrust, which is the consortium of libraries that has received book scans from Google), it’s worth a step ... http://www.openbookalliance.org/2011/09/adventures-in-google%e2%80%99s-audacity/ Since the beginning of this process, criticism of the Google Book Settlement fell roughly into three categories – objectors who viewed the terms of the deal as a complete abrogation of existing coptyright law, those who focused on the role that Google Book Search and the settlement terms played in ... http://www.openbookalliance.org/2011/09/final-ko-for-gbs/ Law professor and copyright expert Pamela Samuelson, who we’ve written about here before, recently participated in webinar moderated by Publishers Weekly on the rejection of the Google Book Settlement.  During the panel, she called on the parties involved to reach a new settlement and, more importantly, for the US Copyright ... http://www.openbookalliance.org/2011/05/prof-samuelson-renews-call-for-copyright-legislation/ The Center for Democracy and Technology recently noted (and quite rightly, we might add), that although that Judge Chin rejected the flawed Google Books Settlement, there are still many outstanding concerns - reader privacy being an important one. As CDT writes, Google “is moving right along with its project to digitize and ... http://www.openbookalliance.org/2011/04/google-book-privacy-still-a-concern-post-gbs/ Judge Chin’s Tuesday rejection of the GBS was exceptionally thorough and detailed.  The OBA applauds judge Chin, the DOJ and many State Attorneys General for their role in holding Google to the same standards as other companies and organizations. The OBA has long opposed the settlement because it allowed Google to ... http://www.openbookalliance.org/2011/03/judge-chins-ruling-by-the-numbers/ The New York Federal District Court’s rejection of the Google Book Settlement is a victory for the public interest and for competition in the literary and Internet ecosystems.  The U.S. Department of Justice and the State Attorneys General who fought to protect consumers and competition should be applauded.  Judge Denny ... http://www.openbookalliance.org/2011/03/oba-applauds-rejection-of-google-books-settlement/ According to Politico, the National Federation of the Blind is asking the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to look into requirements at certain educational schools that students utilize Google products are discriminatory.  As it turns out,  many Google products do not work with applications that are used ... http://www.openbookalliance.org/2011/03/where-did-all-of-google%e2%80%99s-friends-go/