Gerard Meijssen wrote:
Anthony schreef:
Don't take my word for it. Read up on what Brewster Kahle from
Internet Archive had to say about Google Book Search, or find out more about the Open Content Alliance he co-founded largely to respond to it. "They don't want the books to appear in anyone else's search engine but their own, which is a little peculiar for a company that says its mission is to make information universally accessible," Kahle said.
"Google, for instance, is digitizing some great libraries. But their contracts (which were actually secret contracts with libraries – which is bizarre, but anyway, they were secret until they got sued out of them by some governments) are under such restrictions that they're pretty useless... the copies that go back to the libraries. Pretty much Google is trying to set themselves up as the only place to get to these materials; the only library; the only access. The idea of having only one company control the library of human knowledge is a nightmare. I mean this is 1984 – a book about how bad the world would be if this really came about, if a few governments' control and corporations' control on information goes too far."
I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to choose sides on this one, and I'm going with Kahle, not with Google.
I have read enough to learn why Google is getting the opposition to its program. I agree with that opposition. However, you will also have read that Bruster Kahle acknowledges that his project is very much a reaction to the Google project. The opposition that exists is not unlikely to have Google to reconsider its position. When we consider Google a friend, we can as a friend discuss these issues. When we consider Google an enemy, we will not even try to engage in a conversation.
I object to see enemies everywhere, I prefer to see friends that have a different outlook, friends that may be convinced to consider an other approach. I think this approach is more productive.
While I understand that we must find accomodation with Google, it would be naive to give them our complete trust. We don't know if their deals with the libraries are exclusive ones that would prevent anyone else from doing the same thing. For now, database protection laws are limited to Eueope, but if they were to be adopted in the United States they would be give a tremendous advantage to Google which could then develop a user pay system for which only they are capable of providing convenient access. The major future problems will not be with the publishers who are currently in court with Google. Control of the old material whose copyright has already expired will make for a far more important battle. For now I don't think we have the funding or organization to challenge them, certainly not by ourselves. Whether that level of collaboration can coallesce among a wide range of open access supporters is unclear.
Ec