http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/ Engadget Comments for Amazon formally protests Google Books settlement http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/fighting For Her Clients
wearing Sexy Mini Skirts
and Being Self-Reliant]]>Sep 3rd 2009 12:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 12:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 12:44PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 1:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 12:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 12:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/If you don't claim your rights by 5-1-2010, that means Google have the absolute right of your book's digital copy.

Translate:
You want on a long holiday, then discover that I live in your by force for a year. I become the lawful owner of your house... How is that fair to the publishers.]]>Sep 3rd 2009 2:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 2:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/
Anyway, maybe the "political correctness" is different on the internet.

Even it's nothing related to Amazon, forcing publishers to give their rights to Google unless they declare is totally nonsense. ]]>Sep 4th 2009 2:39AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 12:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 12:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/
Something like, "Hurt feelings from a comment on Engadget?! Contact me, Niley Patel for a free consultation. Cause internet trolls don't need to be fed!"]]>Sep 3rd 2009 1:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 1:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 1:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 2:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 4th 2009 5:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 8th 2009 8:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 12:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/
It really is a shame that a lot of books are only available in e-book form if you go with the Kindle format from Amazon. Unlike with iPods, where you can easily obtain virtually any song outside of iTunes for non-ipod players, the same cannot be said for books if you want to get a copy of a Kindle-only release for your Sony e-Reader or any other companies e-readers for that matter.]]>Sep 3rd 2009 12:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/
This is very different from Amazon and the Kindle where the publisher sets prices and makes the decision whether to publish or not on that device.

This settlement takes the decisions to publish out of the author or publishers hands and just gives it all away to GOOG for a one time flat fee, AFAICT.

lian996: You know you can get ebooks for devices other than the kindle from other providers, right? Amazon has built a great device and service around the Kindle. It's not their fault Sony and others were not bright enough to figure out how to do the reader right. However, virtually every title Amazon has can be found from other services for other readers.]]>Sep 3rd 2009 12:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 1:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/
You fail at grasping the situation.

Google does NOT get the books free, it costs them money to digitize them, store them, and serve them up to the public for FREE. And you're really on the publisher's side who take out of print books and sell them to you for full price, keeping ALL of the profits? It's no wonder publishers are against it, especially Amazon. They don't have to pay the author, it's pure profit!

In this age where certain goods can be duplicated at no cost, why shouldn't anyone (including Google) be free to redistribute out of print material that the author isn't getting paid for anyway?]]>Sep 3rd 2009 2:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/
Moot point since this is purely a personal preference. I actually prefer Sony's reader over Amazon's. The wireless download feature is neat, but not a big draw for me. More important is how easy it is to copy my material to and from the device, using standard file formats. With the Kindle it's all bass ackwards.]]>Sep 3rd 2009 2:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/The issue was Google wanting to go through the public library with their library card and start scanning/OCR books to include in searches. Once they got 10-20 years out publishers on the cover stopped being available to contact... so they went ahead and scanned the book anyway until the "guild" sued them "on behalf of members names you don't know..."

Some publishers gave Google permission to their books under terms that only a few pages of the book could be read per search. That left a bunch of self-published and dead publisher's book out there. When the guild sued for "missing" authors Google couldn't contact, they fell in to the trap as they didn't know where the authors were either. So Google essentially demanded RAND access to any of the Writer's guild books (as the guild claimed non-contactable authors were probably guild members the guild should be representing) and Google paid a bunch of money to the guild directly...

Amazon is upset because Google has "settled up" with everybody important, and most importantly dealt with it's legal obligations.. now they can grab anything they can scrounge and scan it for Google search and it's the author's job to contact their publisher/guild to make arrangements... not Google's job to track them all down. Just like ASCAP/BMI for songwriters. Of course Google is first mover, so the next guy that wants a deal will have to wait in line for a year so the guild can see if they should charge MORE money!!!!]]>Sep 3rd 2009 2:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/
HATERRRRZZZZ]]>Sep 3rd 2009 12:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/
This so-called class action settlement is really just an abuse of the legal system, and an attempt by a huge corporation to establish a monopoly by getting a really small organization to go along with it, providing a fig leaf in exchange for a huge sum of money.]]>Sep 3rd 2009 12:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 2:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 2:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 12:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 1:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 1:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 12:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/
The the whole thing is about "convenience to the court" in that Google will mail the publisher's address in the book and if they have an agreement pay them.. if not, Google will register the book and pay the guild. The courts like to see Google paying SOMEBODY for rights, and it's unreasonable and wasteful of court resources for a rights holder of an abandon book of 30 years to sue for "1 million dollars" when they have no contact info on file or their publisher went out of business 25 years ago. ]]>Sep 3rd 2009 3:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 1:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 1:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 1:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 1:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 1:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/
As a personal example my girlfriend's father is an author with nine published novels that sold very well when they were published, for various reasons some of those novels are now out of print. I recently approached him with the idea of releasing these out of print works for the kindle. Now he used to be a member of the author's guild but parted ways when he disagreed with the direction they were taking on some issues. So he is no longer a member of the author's guild and he has out of print works that he could potentially reprint digitally for very little cost which would mean some of his older works which are highly sought after could be purchased on the kindle or the iphone app etc. This would mean revenue from these older works that he would otherwise miss out on. His only other option is to apply through the class action and possibly get a tiny fraction of the settlement money. The problem with that is his older works would then be published free digitally by google which directly competes with his ability to sell them through the kindle store or any other potential digital delivery method.

I am sure there are tens of thousands of authors in a similar position and many of them may not even realize it. So I appreciate amazon coming out against this as they have the resources to fight it.

Now if there were some way for an author or rightsholder to opt out of this settlement and block their works from being published free online by google then I would not really have a problem with it. But the idea that google could come along and publish copyrighted works free online without compensating the rightsholder(s) is pretty out there. Imagine if they tried to do this for every album that is currently out of print. How well would that go down?]]>Sep 3rd 2009 1:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 1:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/
Youtube - a long history of stealing tv and movie content and with Google pretending they dont have the ability to SEARCH their own system to remove illegal content; don't mind that google search engine technology is supposed to be one of the best in the world. It's a convenient excuse to continue to abuse copyrights and provide content without the permission of owners.

Google Adsense - were specifically caught by Microsoft with encouraging warez sites and how to place banner ads in specific positions on the site to monitize their banner clicks better and thus get Google more money. Clearly they are comfortable hanging around with theifs.

Books - now they are attemping to steal the works of publishers without their permission. If a work is out of print it is up to the author and publishers if they want to continue to distribute that work not up to google or anyone else. Google is trying to grab these books to pad their search engine with more junk material to offset all the seo spam that is in their database and make it seem they are offering something else to people for 'free'. It's free because they stole it.

They continue to get away with it because the majority of people out there were DUPED into believing that google is somehow a corporation that is on their side; the reality is they have suckered most people into this false belief by giving away things for 'free'. People are so willing to pretend nothing is happening when they can get things for free its rather sad. ]]>Sep 3rd 2009 1:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/
AMAZON FAIL]]>Sep 3rd 2009 1:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/
At least Google is using open standards to make the books available on a variety of presentation systems, computers, open-standard ebooks, etc. Also, from what I have seen in the discussions this book deal by Google is not exclusive and any other party that is interested and willing has the ability to strike a similar deal.

I hope the courts see Amazon's objection to the Google book deal for what it is, a business competitor sorry they did not get there first.

]]>Sep 3rd 2009 4:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 7:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 2:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/
Google mite not have great in-sync system with book and other google applications yet but I bet whenever they do it'll be better than anyone else.

I support GOOGLE 1000 times.
Skeptic about MS making just descent product and advertising them(most recent ex. lap top hunter)

Google has the best integration within all their products and the best on-line integration with hardwares too.
Why support Kindle?
Reasons not to support kindle and amazon books.
- They want dominance
- Book retailers will die drastically
- They don't make the display
- They make electrics (except the kindle w/ that ugly keyboard)
- Curious to how other ELECTRIC companies to bring their (obviously) competitive devices
- Too early to dominate in that field
- no itune nor ipod
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

kindle's basically a wide screen thin electronic.
Do they expects to us carry cellphones and kindles at the same time and GPS all at the same time?
Where's we gonna put our netbooks???(i don't own one yet)



Here's to the future__
wide(size of your choice --iPhone size/Kindle size;bluetooth headset can make things easy of use) color e-ink display phone of your choice (BB, iphone, android and etc) with downloadable apps(google or kindle or your choice or others)]]>Sep 3rd 2009 4:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Umm this is a reason to support them.

- They don't make the display
Do you think sony makes their displays. I think you will find that 80% of the eink device manufacturers don't make their displays.

- Book retailers will die drastically
I have NO problems with this. They either adapt or die.

- They want dominance
Umm so does Google. So does every company on this planet.

Learn English then come back with a valid argument. Right now all you are say is Amazon bad. Google Good. the only thing Amazon has going against it IMHO is their damn DRM and the ability to yank books from the device. Now this protest. Its not enough to make me drop my Kindle 2 in a fire. But its getting close.]]>Sep 3rd 2009 4:47PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 6:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/Sep 3rd 2009 9:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/amazon-formally-protests-google-books-settlement/]]>Sep 4th 2009 10:49AM