Internet Powers Unite against Google Books

Microsoft, Yahoo, and Amazon have all joined the Open Book Alliance, a group that opposes the settlement that Google Books has reached with publishers.

Last October, Google made a deal with the authors and publishers who had sued the company for scanning their books without permission, writes PC World. Google promised them that it was only using the text for its search engine and previews and then wrote them a $125 million check.

Before the settlement could be approved by the court, the Open Book Alliance rushed in with concerns about privacy issues, exclusivity, and what's to be done about "orphaned books," reports InformationWeek. Libraries are concerned that they would face monopoly pricing.

According to Reuters, Google believes that its competitors are joining forced with the Alliance because the settlement "is injecting more competition into the digital books space." A Google spokesman said that "If improved by the court it will expand access to millions of books in the U.S."