It seems so harmeless, it's certainly useful to browse parts of copyright material for free. What are the alternatives? None that I can see. Google is setting itself up as the owner of all digital ink on the planet. What will that be worth should they forget their "don't be evil" moto? The words Kidnapping or more correcty Booknapping and Ransom come to mind. Well we haven't come to that, this decade. Should we begrudge Google for wanting world domination in the knowledge economy? So what if they become the largest empire in history? Right now, digitizing feels like "staking out" tiny portions of the universe of "knowledge". These are the frontier days of knowledge universe and Google is but one of millions of pioneers prospecting in this new land. Who would have predicted Manhattan in 1492?
This article takes you through the new rules that apply to Canadian and other authors and publishers around the world. It would all seem easier if Google was a benevolent, open source company, but as it stands, they are accumulating private rights to digital versions (lets face it, long term the only version) of millions of books. Should we begrudge Google for paying itself for digitizing all works by running little ads all over the place? Or should we wait for some other solution because we can't think of a better one for now?
Source http://io9.com/5501426/5-ways-the-google-book-settlement-will-change-the-future-of-reading?skyline=true&s=i
http://www.ecmag.com/?fa=article&articleID=10063
