According to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Amazon are planning to join with several non-profit groups in their opposition to the agreement that Google has forged with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers that would have settled the 2005 lawsuit regarding Google's plan to digitize millions of published works.
I think Google's plan to digitize millions of published works is brilliant (as the British would say). When operational, the project will allow any Internet user to access millions of previously hard to view published works. However, we all must remember that Google did not envision this project as a philanthropic venture. The project was meticulously planned and implemented as another revenue stream. I am glad that some of the other E-Commerce heavyweights are finally realizing that their participation in this discussion is vital to ensuring that Google does not obtain a monopoly as the gatekeeper to the published works they scan. Democracy and capitalism work best when there is healthy discussion and lots of competition.