The Justice Department, citing anti-trust and copyright concerns, asked a federal court judge late Friday to reject a controversial settlement that would have allowed Google to cut through knotty copyright issues in order to create the library of the future.
Google Books lets users search and read portions of millions of books.
The Justice Department, which began looking into the proposed settlement over monopoly concerns, suggested that the settlement seeks such broad changes in copyright law that the court needs to be very careful and should reject the current version.
The opinion is a blow to Google’s dreams of creating the 21st century’s version of the Library of Alexandria since the DoJ’s filing (.pdf) is likely to carry great weight with the court.
via www.wired.com
On the one hand I can't help but ask why isn't Congress at the forefront on these issues? Instead of Google becoming our nation's "national library" why isn't the Library of Congress a true National Library to the nation? On the other hand I can't help but think that if Congress delved into this issue, they would surely mess it up.
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