Google Inc. has rapidly become the shining star of a newly dynamic tech industry. The company has blossomed as an Internet company. Less than ten years after its conception in a Palo Alto dorm room, the firm is worth billions and controls a rapidly expanding empire. Google has taken its initial search engine breakthrough - which made use of "back links" to categorize and rank site relevance - and extended it to domains which include maps, blogs, photo journals and e-mail.
Now, with the Google Print Library Project, the company is aiming to catalog and render searchable the book collections of several major libraries. Google will scan the books. Users will have access to the full text of works not under copyright. Works that are in copyright, however, will only have limited access. The only thing available for these works is surrounding lines of text to the search term. For the entire work, users will have to pay.
The program has created enormous backlash from publishers, who have filed lawsuits against the service. Google is promising to push forward despite the challenge. The dispute here lies in the distinction between copyright infringement and online content. Just what constitutes an acceptable use of a copyrighted worked is as of now unclear. The first decade of the Internet has seen flagrant examples of misuse- students downloading thousands of audio and video files off the Internet - paraded in front of the public to demonstrate the evils of theft. These examples should not be used to color the public perception of the innocent Google product.
The legal battle which decides the outcome of Google's project will undoubtedly form a cornerstone of internet judicial precedence. That is why this it is critical the court system establish a broad definition of what constitutes "fair use" online.
Ultimately what Google is attempting to accomplish is the wide dissemination of available content. The database will be an extremely valuable resource for researchers. Users will be able to search for keywords, though the company is adamant that entire pages will not be available. This is similar to other features already provided by companies such as Amazon.com. Google also allows authors the option to exclude works from the service.
As any student knows, one of the most difficult aspects of research is finding the relevant sources. In the early days of the Internet, web crawlers had to be constantly wary about the validity and accuracy of sites. The institutionalization and development of the Internet has created a degree of credibility, and this project is an important part in taking this ideal further. Google is working in conjunction with prestigious libraries with formidable reputations. Users will be able to trust the content of these scanned works is accurate. This is a welcome development in an online world that is still cluttered with far too many spam blogs, fake eBay pages and uninformed rants.
As any writer knows, it is not illegal to cite or quote another source. Google has simply taken this concept and exploded it. It is now possible to search for the quote that you want, and use it as a yardstick for future purchases or research. The intent of the project is to provide indications for users, not licensed content. This is not a Napster-era free-for-all, where copyrighted material will be swapped ad infinitum. Google will allow access to only a sampling of content, exposing users to information that they can purchase if that particular snippet is relevant.
The domain of internet competition is fierce, and it is rare that more than mega-giants can survive. With everything available only clicks away, superior technology quickly dominates. Google has been widely successful in implementing many of its new features, but it must be wary of its unorthodox methodology.
Every step along the way - most notably in last summer's Dutch auction initial public offering - Google has defied industry norms. Google Print Library is another amazing step forward for the company. But it cannot continue to step on investment bankers, Bill Gates' or publishers feet. Eventually Google will pick the wrong challenger, and its wonder boy reputation could go sour. The rogue firm could easily find itself with the same notorious reputation as an online bully as its competitor Microsoft.
