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Google's copyright deal will have open access advocates up in arms, says Seth Finkelstein at the">http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/sethfinkelstein">the Guardian. Brewster Kahle, who founded the Internet Archive and heads the Open Content Alliance, has warned of "the consequences of the consolidation of information into the hands of a few private organizations". Professor Siva Vaidhyanathan also cautions against "corporate welfare" and of libraries "giving away access to one company that is cornering the market on online access".
"Amid all the reactions, an overall lesson should be how little can be determined by legalism, and how much remains unsettled as new technology causes shifts in markets and power. There's some value in enemy-of-my-enemy opposition, where the interests of an advertising near-monopoly are a counterweight to a content cartel. But battles between behemoth businesses should not be mistaken for friendship to libraries, authors or public interest."