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Library Groups Ask DOJ To Oversee Google Books
adeelarshad82 writes "Three library associations have asked the Justice Department to oversee Google's plans to create a massive digital library, so as to prevent excessively high pricing for institutional subscriptions. They said that there was unlikely to be an effective competitor to Google's massive project in the near term. They also asked for academic author representation on the Registry board. Google's plan to digitize millions of books has been criticized by a variety of sources and has recently been shut down in France."
Aren't librarians notorious for telling the DOJ to stay the hell out of their business? Weren't these the same people who refused to give the DOJ the records of people who were checking out Jihad and bomb making books? Aren't these the same people who refuse to have any type of filtering software on their computers so that any perve can sit there and view gay-incestuous-animal-porn on a PC right in front of preschoolers sitting down for story time?
Reminds of people who protest and bitch about the cops all the time but are happy to call them when someone is breaking into their house!
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
By extending Copyright, they effectively robbed all of us of our rightful property. What hypocrisy for them to crack down on "piracy".
Then why don't you vote "them" out of office?
Oh yeah, copyrights don't win elections. Neither do civil liberties. Seems the only thing that wins elections are vague promises of "change" that manage to penetrate into the minds of the electorate in between viewings of American Idol......
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
but if people actually thought competition would help, there would already be a competitor.
What type of logic is this? Competition isn't about helping! It's about running the other guy of business and taking all of the money yourself. (Or as TMBG put it, "I don't want the world. I only want your half." Or perhaps better, Conan's description of the best in life, "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women") Do you think Pepsi exists to help Coke? If so, you clearly are more confused than most Ayn Rand reading parent's basement dwelling "capitalists".
So why hasn't this happened? Well let me introduce you to the ideas of "barriers to entry" and "limited returns." Keep in mind GOOG got $21,128,514 revenues from their advertising business last year. They can afford to lose money for literally decades (Google Books started in 2002) before beginning to recoop their investment. Google is the only group that can. Especially given that the exclusivity deals Google signed to begin this project.
And don't for once think that GOOG is doing this out of the goodness of their heart. Companies are heartless and amoral. Like the cylons, they have a plan.