The Department of Justice should be congratulated for its filing with the federal court reviewing the Google Books settlement. The Department’s forceful arguments about this settlement underscore the concerns that we, and many others, have raised about this deal. With this deal, Google, which already dominates the online search market, would be given a significant advantage over its rivals in online books. The results would likely lead to market power that could permanently lockout competitors, thereby posing anticompetitive risks to the public. Furthermore, there are significant privacy concerns in this settlement as it gives Google unprecedented access to consumers’ information. They already know how we find web content and retain our browsing and email history and now, with this deal, they will know what we are reading

The DOJ made a strong statement on behalf of consumers and competition today and we hope the court heeds their concerns, as well as the concerns of many authors, publishers, libraries, consumer groups, legal experts, and privacy advocates.