MisterWebNet

Is the enemy of my enemy my friend? According a recent move by Yahoo, Amazon and Microsoft the answer could well be yes. All three internet giants have joined forces against the big daddy of them all - Google. Amazon, Yahoo and Microsoft have all signed up to the a new association, The Open Book Alliance, directly opposed to Google's library project.

The move comes as all three cite anti-competition worries over Google's drive to index and provide users with access to a book catalogue.  Since Google launched the Library Project three years ago, its already had run in's with the American Association of Publishers and individual authors. After suing Google for copyright infringement an out of court settlement of was reached with Google paying a preliminary $125 million to avoid a trail case.

The Open Book Alliance joined by Amazon, Yahoo and Microsoft is a division of the IAO (Internet Archive Organisation), a collection of not-for-profit groups and library associations. Gary Reback, an antitrust lawyer representing the Alliance, said that they planned to make a representation to the US Department of Justice arguing that the agreement is anti-competitive."This deal has enormous, far-reaching anti-competitive consequences that people are just beginning to wake up to,” he said.

Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive went even further saying

"Google is trying to monopolise the library system. If this deal goes ahead, they're making a real shot at being 'the' library and the only library"

Critics have also pointed out privacy concerns saying Google had not made clear if people's reading habits and choice would be monitored and tracked. In particular, the issue of using information gathered from what a user reads could be used to push products and services in adverts to that user.

Links:

Google Books: http://books.google.com/

Internet Archive:  http://www.archive.org/index.php