The issues seem stark:
"the GoogleBooks Saga -- which is, by turns, either the glorious democratization of all the world's 'texts' -- or a globalization conspiracy to dominate same, both de jure at home in the US and de facto everywhere else..."
-- but like any such digital development there is far more involved than can be described in short headlines.
My hope is that, by "joining in the debate" of the Berkeley conference, readers here will be able to get a sense of some of the broader issues involved -- academics are good at that -- in greater depth than the dry legal language of most news reports has been able to convey.
The buildup in la presse has been extraordinary: a sampling -- (I am experimenting with TinyURLs here, so if you'd like the full URLs please see http://fyifrance.com/f102009b.htm) --
- Aug 10, Aug 19: UC Berkeley law professor & digital
rights expert extraordinaire Pamela Samuelson's two
articles, in The Huffington Post
http://tinyurl.com/kuudr5
http://tinyurl.com/lhsscd - Aug 13: style-feuilleton Appeal against GoogleBooks
leveled unanimously, and lodged with the court, by the 21
members of the University of California faculty's
Academic Council
http://tinyurl.com/mrtavw - Aug 27: Former Bibliothèque nationale de France
président Jean-Noël Jeanneney's irate article in Le Figaro
http://tinyurl.com/lj2u3x - Sep 4 [extended to Sep 8]: Deadline for filing an
objection, with the court, or a notice of intent to
appear at the Fairness Hearing
http://tinyurl.com/6kc6hx
http://tinyurl.com/lxq47t
http://tinyurl.com/btu52f - Sep 7: European Commission hearing on the GoogleBooks Settlement
http://tinyurl.com/mnat3w - Oct 7: The GoogleBooks Settlement Fairness Hearing, US (federal) District Court, Southern District of New York...
http://www.fyifrance.com/Fyarch/fy080715.htm
http://www.fyifrance.com/Fyarch/fy090315.htm
-- so now the EC is involved, as well.
I am a GoogleBooks optimist -- but there are GoogleBooks pessimists out there too, in abundance -- plus sceptics of every variety, as for any event of such significance, the advent of what one UC Berkeley sceptic now labels "The Last Library", there really should be.
So, read the "conference report", savor the discussion, participate if & where & when you can; this particular digital development will affect us all -- vous tous, et nous autres -- going forward.
And coming, in the first issue of the Fall on September 15:
"FYI France: Google, Views from France!"
http://www.fyifrance.com/Fyarch/fy090915.htm
And a very happy rentrée to all!
Jack Kessler, kessler@well.com
--oOo--
FYI France (sm)(tm) e-journal ISSN 1071-5916
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