US antitrust enforcers are investigating Google's
settlement with publishers over its book-scanning project, but the
internet firm has defended its position.
Google reached an agreement in October to create a $125m fund to
pay authors to have their work scanned and made available
online.
The US Justice Department became involved after representatives
for Consumer Watchdog and the American Antitrust Institute raised
concerns earlier this month, according to
Bloomberg News.
Consumer Watchdog said the deal sets up an unfair monopolistic
situation for Google by allowing it to dominate the digital
market.
The deal still needs court approval and the deadline has now
been extended to September for others to oppose it, a
BBC
report said.
Google has defended its position by highlighting the benefits to
readers of putting millions of books online.
These include being able to access out-of-print books, or
so-called "orphaned" books where the author cannot be found, as
well as being able to get hold of more books in foreign languages,
said a
blog posting by Adam Smith, the director of product management
for
Google
Book Search.
Smith said there were also benefits for authors because they
will be able to let users preview and purchase their in-print books
through Google Book Search.
"Readers will have even more options for accessing in-print
books than they have today," he said.
The deal only applies in the US, but Google believes it will
provide a valuable test bed for developing similar services around
the world, said Smith.