Excite News - Google Suffers Setback in Copyright Case

Link: Excite News - Google Suffers Setback in Copyright Case. In its attempt to defend itself against a coalition of publishers and others attempting to assert copyright infringement in Google's venture into digitizing book content on the web, Google has subpoenaed documents and records about Yahoo and Amazon's similar digitizing efforts. However, attorneys for the competitors have filed objections, claiming that the information consists of trade secrets, and that Google has no business "getting into the minds of Yahoo employees". Yahoo's lawyers are probably right; but, as in most discovery disputes, the Judge will likely look for a way to get the relevant evidence in order to make a reasoned decision. How to protect the trade secrets will be the big battle. Along with privacy on the Internet, the big challenge of Web 2.0 and the emerging Internet is how to leverage the power of the Internet to make knowledge and information freely available to everyone, while still protecting the intellectual property rights of authors. Those of us who want free information on the Web, but who respect private property rights, are experiencing a roller coaster of emotions as we try to resolve the problem.This should be quite a ride.