As US gov’t circles the wagons, Google’s brass stays cool; Christian Science Monitor, 6/11/09

Matthew Shaer via Christian Science Monitor; As US gov’t circles the wagons, Google’s brass stays cool:

"A day after Google acknowledged it was being investigated by the US Justice Department, two of the company’s lawyers said they saw no cause for concern.

“Most of these issues don’t deal with our core business,” said Dana Wagner, a competition lawyer for Google said yesterday, according to The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper also quoted Google’s chief legal officer David Drummond, who declined to comment on the specifics of the case.

“We hear people’s concerns and we want to address them,” Drummond said. He said he expected Google’s recent settlement on its Book Search project to be approved."

http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2009/06/11/as-us-govt-circles-the-wagons-googles-brass-stays-cool/

U.S. Presses Antitrust Inquiry Into Google Book Settlement; New York Times, 6/10/09

Miguel Helft via New York Times; U.S. Presses Antitrust Inquiry Into Google Book Settlement:

"In a sign that the government has stepped up its antitrust investigation of a class-action settlement between Google and groups representing authors and publishers, the Justice Department has issued formal requests for information to several of the parties involved.

The Justice Department has sent the requests, called civil investigative demands, to various parties, including Google, the Association of American Publishers, the Authors Guild and individual publishers, said Michael J. Boni, a partner at Boni & Zack, who represented the Authors Guild in negotiations with Google.

“They are asking for a lot of information,” Mr. Boni said. “It signals that they are serious about the antitrust implications of the settlement.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/technology/companies/10book.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=google%20book&st=cse