Quote:
Originally Posted by poohbear_nc
Well, no one loves or welcomes a monopoly - even an allegedly non-commercial monopoly that Google Books would set up. If they are scanning and storing copies of "orphan" books that are out-of-print or no longer available, in conjunction with libraries relentlessly culling out pbooks that are no longer checked out, then yes - they are establishing a monopoly on readers' access to these book titles. Setting up partnerships with other online/electronic book scanning/storage operations might lessen the animosity towards their practice.
It's an interesting dilemma: convenience (one-stop access to any title at one site) versus total control of access to reading material.
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This is always the question, isn't it. Our (in the U.S.A.) phone system came about because the government granted a monopoly to the Bell System which has only "recently" been deregulated. Do we need something similar in the publishing industry???
Or ???