As the deadline for submitting objections to the revised settlement proposed by Google and the book author and publisher groups passed recently, there seems to be no resolution to the matter yet.
The Open Book Alliance (OBA), the staunches critic, waited until the last moment to file its objections. The group, backed by Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo among others, not exactly members of the Google fan club, was unconvinced by the latest iteration of the settlement, calling it a "paltry proposal" and an attempt by Google to monopolize the market.
“The torrent of criticism to the settlement may have produced amendments to the class definition, but it has not affected Google’s conduct one iota…..All in all, little has been accomplished, save from Google’s perspective as it continues to build its lead over competitors. …The Court’s procedures are ill-suited for resolution of what is now at stake in this matter – rewriting the copyright law, restructuring the publishing industry, and maintaining a competitive search market,” the OBA writes in the filling.
On its website, the OBA claims that the revised settlement is merely a cosmetic touch up that doesn't go into any of the big issues. It also says that Google's effort to positioning Google Books as a "philanthropic effort" isn't fooling anyone and is just an attempt to cover up its real intentions, getting its hands on the biggest library of digital books in the world to help its scheme to take over the search market.
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