The great Google library project is gaining steam. It will be interesting to see what happens if Google wins the right to continue scanning every single book in the world, whether it is under copyright or not. If you have not checked out Google books then hit the link and check it out. This is a big deal.
The idea that you can search through any book ever published just by having a web connection is truly powerful. Powerful in ways that we probably cannot imagine because to date it has never been considered realistic. Make no mistake... it is realistic and Google is working very hard to make it a reality. It will also be dangerous. While I am cheering for Google to succeed I also feel very strongly this is something that should not be placed in the hands of a single company. Even one who has the goal "of not being evil". The Constitution strives to provide a delicate balance between various powers in order to keep government from becoming tyrannical. A similar mechanism needs to put in place that keeps any one entity from having control over the easiest access to the collective knowledge of human kind. If you sit in between people and what is stored in books (or any form of knowledge) you can control what they find and what is there to find. There needs to be multiple repositories of this information and there needs to be constant vigilance to monitor for any tampering in order to maintain the integrity of the information for all.
Google is probably the only company I would even think about trusting to begin this great work, and make no mistake this is truly a great work of the ages, but I do not trust them to be the eternal keeper of the 'scrolls' so to speak.
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