Consumer Watchdog

France, Privacy Advocates Voice Google Book Deal Concerns

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 8, 2009 - 8:57am.

Mountain View, Calif. - Responding to concerns voiced by Germany, France and the European Commission, Google (NASD: GOOG) announced that it will not include European out-of-print works that are still in copyright in its massive digital book index without authors' permissions. A French Cultural Ministry official told Reuters that France will join Germany in asking a U.S. court to block Google's proposed $125 million settlement with authors over its book-scanning project.

FTC to Continue Probe Into Google-Apple Board Ties

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 4, 2009 - 8:02am.

Washington - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said it will continue to investigate the connections between the boards of directors of Apple (NASD: AAPL) and Google (NASD: GOOG), despite Google CEO Eric Schmidt's announcement yesterday that he would resign from Apple's board. "We have been investigating the Google/Apple interlocking directorates issue for some time and commend them for recognizing that sharing directors raises competitive issues, as Google and Apple increasingly compete with each other," said FTC competition director Richard Feinstein. "We will continue to investigate remaining interlocking directorates between the companies."

Justice Dept. to Probe Google Book Settlement With Authors

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 29, 2009 - 7:30am.

Washington - The U.S. Justice Department has launched an antitrust probe into the settlement being negotiated between Google (NASD: GOOG) and authors over the company's book-scanning service, The New York Times reported, citing two people briefed on the matter. Justice Department lawyers have reportedly been in conversations in recent weeks with groups that oppose the deal, such as the Internet Archive and Consumer Watchdog.