Inside Google

Press Release

Why trust Google Health still in beta test mode?

CONTACT: John M. Simpson

Why would anybody trust their private medial records to a service that by its own admission doesn’t have all the kinks worked out?  Believe it or not, that’s exactly what  Google is asking you to do with its Google Health service.

Google’s solution for journalism: Invade your privacy

John M. Simpson

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt recently sat down with New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd and discussed how newspapers can emerge from their downward spiral.  His solution, not surprisingly, is less privacy.

Press Release

Google Book Settlement Faces Legal Assault

CONTACT: Stephanie Condon

A proposed settlement in a copyright lawsuit involving Google’s book search has drawn applause, envy, and from a handful of critics, an attempt to derail the deal. While most groups concerned with Google’s singular access to orphan
works are considering filing briefs with the court before a June 11
hearing, at least one group, Consumer Watchdog, is asking the Justice
Department to intervene and plans a meeting on Monday with department
officials. "Google’s going to have an unfair advantage against any competitor
because they will have already settled this issue," said Consumer
Watchdog President Jamie Court.

Google Digital Book ‘Monopoly’ Feels Heat — Redmond Blamed

Cade Metz

Complaints over Google’s sweeping digital books settlement have reached a boiling point. And now, a familiar Google nemesis has called on the US Department of
Justice to scrutinize the Book Search pact. Today, the consumer
watchdog known only as Consumer Watchdog tossed a letter at US Attorney
General Eric Holder and other DoJ officials, asking them to delay the
settlement until some changes are made. Consumer Watchdog is the consumer watchdog that Google famously tried to snuff out after taking issue with its press release tactics.

Press Release

Group: Consumers Not Considered In Google Book Search Settlement

CONTACT: Wendy Davis

Advocacy group Consumer Watchdog has joined the ranks of organizations
expressing concern about the proposed Google Book Search settlement. The group criticizes the settlement on the grounds that it would give
Google "an effective monopoly over digitized books" and is asking the
Department of Justice to intervene.

Wall Street Journal, AP Take Aim At Google

Greg Sandoval

Traditional media is once again rattling sabers in the direction of Google and other sites that aggregate the news. There’s tough talk coming from managers at The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press that include threats of legal challenges and even name calling. Google’s plan to scan orphan books and preserve them in a database is
also being challenged. Google has an agreement with the The Authors
Guild and the Association of American Publishers to scan the books, but
a group called Consumer Watchdog says the agreement is anticompetitive
and has called on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to intervene.

Press Release

Academics, Citing Public Interest, Plan To Intervene in Google Book Search Settlement

CONTACT: Norman Oder

While much mainstream news coverage of the pending Google Book
Search settlement has focused on the potential boon to researchers,
concerns raised by librarians and consumers have begun to hit critical
mass. One sign was a front-page article in the April 4 New York Times, headlined Google’s Plan for Out-of-Print Books Is Challenged, which noted that two sets of academics plan to intervene in the settlement. Consumer Watchdog,
a public interest group in Southern California, also has asked the
Justice Department to intervene in the case to “serve the public
interest,” Helft noted.

Google Book Scans Lead to Department of Justice Call

Staff Writers

Google’s recent and far-flung attempt to digitize the world’s "orphan"
books, or out-of-print tomes that remain under copyright but whose
rights-holders cannot be found, may soon hit a roadblock in the form of
the U.S. Department of Justice, at least if a consumer group gets its
wish. John Simpson, a consumer advocate for Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit
consumer advocacy organization, wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General
Eric Holder asking the government to intervene in Google’s recent
settlement with The Authors Guild and the Association of American
Publishers (AAP).

Press Release

It’s Not Just Microsoft That’s Balking At Google’s Book Plans

CONTACT: Miguel Helft

Earlier this week, Google’s public relations team sent around to reporters a story from Wired suggesting that Microsoft was behind
the opposition to its sweeping settlement with book publishers and
authors over its book scanning project. I covered a focal point of the
opposition to the agreement, the concerns over Google’s virtually
exclusive license to millions of so-called orphan books, in Saturday’s Times. And in a letter sent last week, Consumer Watchdog, a public interest
group in Southern California, has asked the Justice Department to
intervene in the case to “bring about changes that will truly serve the
public interest.” 

Press Release

Is Google Burning Its Brand?

CONTACT: Erik Sherman

The recent incident involved a privacy group called Consumer Watchdog.
The organization and Google have had a history of run-ins. Consumer
Watchdog has been critical of Google in terms of privacy, and has been
aggressive at times in publicly challenging the search giant, as can be
seen in this video ironically documented on YouTube, which is owned by
Google.