[Upd-discuss] Fwd: [BOAI] google's scannning of library holdings stopped.

[Zapopan Martin Muela-Meza]

--- Donat Agosti <agosti@amnh.org> wrote:

> From: "Donat Agosti" <agosti@amnh.org>
> To: "'BOAI Forum'" <boai-forum@ecs.soton.ac.uk>
> Subject: [BOAI] google's scannning of library holdings stopped.
> Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 23:29:18 +0200
> 
> 
> Below today's New York Times story in the Technology section re Googles
> halting of their scanning and indexing of library books.
> 
> It seems to me that the publication business wants to keep us in the
> dark pre-web ages where access to publications was extremely cumbersome.
> They do not see the value of the semantic web, one of the most important
> emerging properties of the web providing a much more refined access to
> our knowledge, put rather a potential competition.
> 
> I hope this does not impact the self-archiving initiatives.
> 
> Donat
> 
> 
> August 12, 2005
> Google Halts Scanning of Copyrighted Books
> By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
> Filed at 12:57 p.m. ET
> 
> SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Stung by a publishing industry backlash, Google
> Inc. has halted its efforts to scan copyrighted books from some of the
> nation's largest university libraries so the material can be indexed in
> its leading Internet search engine.
> 
> The company announced the suspension, effective until November, in a
> notice posted on its Web site just before midnight Thursday by Adam
> Smith, the manager of its ambitious program to convert millions of books
> into a digital format.
> 
> ''We think most publishers and authors will choose to participate in the
> publisher program in order (to) introduce their work to countless
> readers around the world,'' Smith wrote. ''But we know that not everyone
> agrees, and we want to do our best to respect their views too.''
> 
> Google wants publishers to notify the company which copyrighted books
> they don't want scanned, effectively requiring the industry to opt out
> of the program instead of opting in.
> 
> That approach rankled the Association of American Publishers.
> 
> ''Google's announcement does nothing to relieve the publishing
> industry's concerns,'' Patricia Schroeder, the trade group's president,
> said in a statement Friday. ''Google's procedure shifts the
> responsibility for preventing infringement to the copyright owner rather
> than the user, turning every principle of copyright law on its ear.''
> 
> Google wants to scan copyright-protected books from three major
> libraries -- Harvard, Michigan and Stanford.
> 
> The company also is scanning books stored at the New York Public Library
> and Oxford University, but those two libraries so far are providing
> Google only with ''public domain'' works -- material no longer protected
> by copyrights.
> 
> Google hasn't disclosed how many books it has scanned since it first
> announced the program eight months ago. The company expects to be
> scanning books for at least five years -- and probably much longer if it
> can persuade other libraries around the world to participate.
> 
> The project troubles publishers because they fear making digital
> versions of copyrighted books available on the Internet could open the
> door to unauthorized duplication and distribution, similar to the
> rampant online pirating that has decimated the sales in the music
> industry.
> 
> Publishers are also upset that Google might be able to generate more
> advertising revenue by offering an index of copyrighted books and so far
> hasn't offered to pay any royalties for its potential financial gains.
> Mountain View, Calif.-based Google ranks among the Internet's most
> profitable companies, having earned $712 million on revenue of $2.6
> billion during the first half of this year.
> 
> Google executives have positioned the scanning project as a largely
> altruistic endeavor that will make it easier for people around the world
> to read the valuable -- and often rare -- material stockpiled in
> libraries. The company hasn't disclosed how much the project will cost,
> but it's expected to require a substantial investment.
> 
> The attacks on Google's handling of copyrighted material extend beyond
> books.
> 
> One of Google's most popular features -- a section that compiles news
> stories posted on thousands of Web sites -- also has triggered claims of
> copyright infringement. Agence France-Presse, a French news agency, is
> suing for damages of at least $17.5 million, alleging ''Google News'' is
> illegally capitalizing on its copyrighted material.
> 
> ^------
> 
> On The Net:
> 
> Google notice of change in program:
> 
> http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/08/making-books-easier-to-find.h tml
> 
> Association of American Publishers: http://www.publishers.org 
> 
> 
> Dr. Donat Agosti
> Research Associate, American Museum of Natural History and Smithsonian
> Institution
>  
> Email: agosti@amnh.org
> Web: http://antbase.org
> CV: http://antbase.org/agosticv_2003.html
>  
> Dalmaziquai 45
> 3005 Bern
> Switzerland
> +41-31-351 7152
>  
> 
> 
> 
> 


Zapopan Muela
----------------------------- v -------------------------------
"Tiranos y autócratas han entendido siempre que el alfabetismo, 
el conocimiento, los libros y los periódicos son un peligro 
en potencia. Pueden inculcar ideas independientes e incluso
de rebeldía en las cabezas de sus súbditos.
----------------------------- v -------------------------------
"Tyrants and autocrats have always understood that literacy, 
learning, books and newspapers are potentially dangerous. 
They can put independent and even rebelious ideas to the heads 
of their subjects."
----------------------------- v -------------------------------
-- Sagan, Carl (1997). The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle
in the Dark : El mundo y sus demonios: La ciencia como una luz en la 
oscuridad. México: Planeta, p. 390; New York: Ballantine Books, p. 362.


		
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