Comments on: Jealous Rivals Determined to Tank Google Settlement? http://ereads.com/2009/11/jealous-rivals-determined-to-tank.html Read the latest publishing news and provocative blogs by top commentators in the traditional and digital publishing fields. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:29:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Richard Curtis http://ereads.com/2009/11/jealous-rivals-determined-to-tank.html/comment-page-1#comment-218 Richard Curtis Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:06:41 +0000 http://ereadsdev.com/?p=873#comment-218 Somewhere between democratic, transparent and inclusive on the one hand, and fascist and oligarchical on the other, stands a fact that Anonymous and other critics of the settlement keep forgetting. Which is that Google's Book Search is a capitalistic enterprise designed to earn a reasonable profit for its investment. And that investment has been substantial. In fact it has been prodigious. <br /><br />Other businesses had the opportunity to do what Google has done but lacked the vision and imagination, the will and the financial resources, to do it. Google deserves to be rewarded for its enterprise but not profligately, and the settlement sees to it that they will not be rewarded profligately. But rewarded they should be. The settlement is the best and fairest course between two opposing forces. It should be endorsed by the court, and I hope it will be.<br />RC Somewhere between democratic, transparent and inclusive on the one hand, and fascist and oligarchical on the other, stands a fact that Anonymous and other critics of the settlement keep forgetting. Which is that Google's Book Search is a capitalistic enterprise designed to earn a reasonable profit for its investment. And that investment has been substantial. In fact it has been prodigious.

Other businesses had the opportunity to do what Google has done but lacked the vision and imagination, the will and the financial resources, to do it. Google deserves to be rewarded for its enterprise but not profligately, and the settlement sees to it that they will not be rewarded profligately. But rewarded they should be. The settlement is the best and fairest course between two opposing forces. It should be endorsed by the court, and I hope it will be.
RC

]]> By: Anonymous http://ereads.com/2009/11/jealous-rivals-determined-to-tank.html/comment-page-1#comment-217 Anonymous Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:12:59 +0000 http://ereadsdev.com/?p=873#comment-217 While I do not doubt that some of the parties opposed to the settlement have selfish motives that are not in the public good, I do not think it is correct to assume a rosy picture for Google and the Author's Guild. There are people who oppose the settlement for ethical reasons, legal reasons, and philosophical reasons. This settlement should be rendered illegal and a proper path that includes all partners, not just the ones that Google deems worthy, should be pursued. The process should be democratic, transparent, and inclusive. The best ways to achieve any kind of just solution needs to include all of these elements. The current settlement is truly fascist and oligarchical--rule by a centralized select few that permits little criticism from outsiders. To put it kindly, your post is reductionist and employs the very tactics of which you accuse your opponents. While I do not doubt that some of the parties opposed to the settlement have selfish motives that are not in the public good, I do not think it is correct to assume a rosy picture for Google and the Author's Guild. There are people who oppose the settlement for ethical reasons, legal reasons, and philosophical reasons. This settlement should be rendered illegal and a proper path that includes all partners, not just the ones that Google deems worthy, should be pursued. The process should be democratic, transparent, and inclusive. The best ways to achieve any kind of just solution needs to include all of these elements. The current settlement is truly fascist and oligarchical–rule by a centralized select few that permits little criticism from outsiders. To put it kindly, your post is reductionist and employs the very tactics of which you accuse your opponents.

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