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Report: State AGs looking into Google Books deal

Google's settlement with publishers over the digital rights to certain books has attracted federal attention, and might prompt state scrutiny as well.

Tom Krazit Former Staff writer, CNET News
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.
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Tom Krazit

In the wake of reported discussions involving the Department of Justice and Google over the recent Google Books settlement, now comes word that various state attorneys general are mulling their options.

Reuters reported Friday that several state AGs held a conference call on Tuesday to discuss the settlement, which will allow Google to digitize a vast collection of books that are still under copyright but out of print.There's concern in some parts over the fact that authors have to opt out of the settlement as well as the fact that Google now essentially controls the digital rights to those works, concerns which reportedly prompted the DOJ to take a closer look at the deal.

There's no indication that the AGs have any intention to make a move anytime soon, according to the report. More likely, they are just waiting to see what happens as part of the DOJ's scrutiny, and will react accordingly.