GBS: An Open Letter on the Open Internet


Dear Google Books Team (including Dan Clancy):

When you say that Google is committed to orphan works legislation, is that in the same way it’s committed to network neutrality? When you say that reader privacy provisions don’t need to be in the Google Books settlement because Google is committed to protecting reader privacy, is that in the same way it’s committed to network neutrality? I hope you understand why your CEO has created a credibility problem for you, and will explain the matter to him at your earliest convenience.

Best wishes, James


James Grimmelmann:

“Even if Google today goes ahead with these [settlement] terms, Google five years from now might not,” Grimmelmann noted. “The settlement, for example, only says that Google ‘may’ provide public access service.” —Publishers Weekly, Will Google’s Net Neutrality Shift Complicate the Book Settlement?

Douglas Fevens, Halifax, Nova Scotia — The University of Wisconsin, Google, & Me