Is Everyone Out to Get Google Now?

So I ran across this article through ALA's newsletter (sometimes they send along items that are actually of interest to me!) and this one really struck a cord with me.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/technology/07google.html

I've been talking to my students in my Honors course about Google and Copyright and why there were issues with the whole project. Most of them have an opinion or two about the topic but only a couple felt strongly (that it would be a good idea for Google to actually scan all of the books in the world, as they put it). So not only was this article timely for my class, but I also realized that after the last couple of years of talking about the pros and cons of this issue, that I also found my own opinion changing.

Maybe it's because I've always felt that people tend to go after those who are on top - those with the money and the power whether they were doing something wrong or not. I didn't really see Google in that light until recently when I started to get the sense that everyone was filing suit against Google just because they could (Google's got the money, right? I want a piece of that action too!). Okay, so maybe it's not all about that...even I think that Google can get a little too carried away and consolidating all of your eggs into one basket is never a good idea (especially if you are trusting that basket to someone else). But come on people! Does everyone really need a piece of the pie?

I guess what I'm saying is that I really wish we could find a solution to this so that Google can get on with what should be the focus of their "little" pet project...digitizing those books! Hope they can find a fair way to do this soon!