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A sign hangs at the Microsoft booth at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada in this January 9, 2009 file photo. (Reuters)
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Technology
Microsoft Corp and Yahoo! Inc are joining a group of opponents to a class action settlement that gives Google Inc the right to digitize millions of books, the companies said on Friday.
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The companies are becoming part of the Open Book Alliance, made up of nonprofits and libraries that have raised a red flag against Google's plan to digitize books and put them on the Internet.
"Yes, we've agreed to participate in the coalition," a spokesman for Microsoft said. A Yahoo spokeswoman said they had also signed on.
Amazon.com Inc has also reportedly joined, but a spokeswoman said: "We don't comment on rumor or speculation."
Critics say the deal gives Google the unimpeded ability to set prices for libraries, once they scan books and put them on the Internet. If the service becomes a necessity for libraries they would face monopoly pricing, Google's opponents say.
They also say it would also allow Google -- and only Google -- to digitize so-called orphan works, which could pose an antitrust concern.
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