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Amazon, Microsoft Join Against Google Books Deal

Northwest tech giants Amazon and Microsoft have joined a coalition of companies, nonprofit groups, and individuals to work against a proposed settlement by Google regarding its thousands of scanned books according to an article in yesterday’s New York Times. The group, which includes new Microsoft ally Yahoo, will work to derail the settlement between Google and groups like the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers about Google’s right to digitize and publish books from libraries online. Google was first sued over its book scanning in 2005. The settlement reached sets up a way for Google to display and sell books online but is of concern to antitrust lawyers including some in the Department of Justice. The coalition against the settlement is tentatively being called the Open Book Alliance.

Eric Hal Schwartz is an intern in Xconomy's Seattle office. He can be reached at eschwartz@xconomy.com.

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