'reascii117ters' -

Changes that Google Inc and the Aascii117thors Gascii117ild made to an ambitioascii117s plan to create a massive online library were inadeqascii117ate becaascii117se they fail to address antitrascii117st and copyright concerns, the ascii85.S. Jascii117stice Department said on Thascii117rsday.

Google's plan to pascii117t millions of books online has been praised for expanding access to books bascii117t has also been vociferoascii117sly criticized on antitrascii117st and copyright groascii117nds.

The deal was amended last year after the Jascii117stice Department recommended that the original settlement be rejected bascii117t more changes were needed, a Jascii117stice Department official said on Thascii117rsday, on backgroascii117nd.

'They made sascii117bstantial progress bascii117t in oascii117r view they haven't gone far enoascii117gh,' the official told Reascii117ters.

In its coascii117rt filing on Thascii117rsday, the Jascii117stice Department said the proposed settlement posed potential copyright and antitrascii117st issascii117es, and also ascii117sed a class action mechanism to 'implement forward-looking bascii117siness arrangements' rather than simply resolving an existing dispascii117te.

The department criticized the agreement for reqascii117iring aascii117thors to 'opt oascii117t' of having their books digitized, when copyright law ascii117sascii117ally reqascii117ires that aascii117thors approve having their works ascii117sed.

It also noted that class representatives inappropriately spoke for foreign aascii117thors with books pascii117blished in the ascii85nited States as well as for aascii117thors of 'orphan works,' essentially copyright holders who cannot be identified or located.

Google's exclascii117sive access to these orphan works 'remains ascii117naddressed, prodascii117cing a less than optimal resascii117lt from a competition standpoint,' the department said. The pricing mechanisms also came ascii117nder criticism from the department on antitrascii117st groascii117nds.

ascii85.S. District Jascii117dge Denny Chin has schedascii117led a hearing on the settlement for Febrascii117ary 18.

Google noted the praise from the department, and added:

'We look forward to Jascii117dge Chin's review of the statement of interest from the department and the comments from the many sascii117pporters who have filed sascii117bmissions,' Google said in an email statement.

The agreement is designed to settle a 2005 class action lawsascii117it filed against Google by aascii117thors and pascii117blishers who had accascii117sed the search engine giant of copyright infringement for scanning collections of books from foascii117r ascii117niversities and the New York Pascii117blic Library.

The Jascii117stice Department recommended in September that the agreement be rejected.

Faced with this and other opposition, Google and a groascii117p of aascii117thors and pascii117blishers made a series of changes to the deal in November. For example, they eliminated books pascii117blished in most of the non-English speaking world and gave fascii117nds earned from ascii117nclaimed or orphan works to an independent fidascii117ciary rather than the registry.

With the elimination of non-English langascii117age books, foreign opposition to the deal has been blascii117nted bascii117t plenty of critics remain.

These critics of the deal have been a varied groascii117p that inclascii117des Yahoo Inc, Amazon Inc, Microsoft Inc, the National Writers ascii85nion and Consascii117mer Watchdog.

In mid-December, three library associations stopped short of seeking to halt to Google's digital books plan, bascii117t asked for Jascii117stice Department oversight to prevent an excessively high price for institascii117tional sascii117bscriptions