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Tech giants unite against Google By Maggie Shiels Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley Not everyone in the coalition wants the deal blocked, some want revisions Three technology heavyweights are joining a coalition to fight Google's attempt to create what could be the world's largest virtual library.Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo will sign up to the Open Book Alliance being spearheaded by the Internet Archive. They oppose a legal settlement that could make Google the main source for many online works. "Google is trying to monopolise the library system," the Internet Archive's founder Brewster Kahle told BBC News.

Critics have claimed the settlement will transform the future of the book industry and of public access to the cultural heritage of mankind embodied in books. The Internet Archive scans around 1000 books a day at 10 cents a page "The techniques we have built up since the enlightenment of having open access, public support for libraries, lots of different organisational structures, lots of distributed ownership of books that can be exchanged, resold and repackaged in different ways - all of that is being thrown out in this particular approach," warned Mr Kahle. The non-profit Internet Archive has long been a vocal opponent of this agreement. It is also in the business of scanning books and has digitised over half a million of them to date. All are available free. As the 4 September deadline approaches, the number of groups and organisations voicing their opposition is growing. But with three of the world's best-known technology companies joining the chorus, the Open Book Alliance can expect to make headlines the world over.

In its defence, Google has argued that the deal brings great benefits to authors and will make millions of out-of-print books widely available online and in libraries. In a statement, the company said: "The Google Books settlement is injecting more competition into the digital books space, so it's understandable why our competitors might fight hard to prevent more competition."

Charter 08

He feels a deep bond with people who are treated unjustly, he says, and he advocates on their behalf on the Internet, in police stations and in courtrooms, for which he has earned a reputation with the powers that be.

It revolves around his fifth, and most prominent, client in Fujian, the man who disappeared during the Olympic Games in Beijing almost a year ago, all because he had applied for a permit to protest in one of the "protest parks" the government had designated for that purpose.

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that has increasingly drawn some decidedly juvenile pranks, is looking to impose more discipline with new restrictions on the editing of articles.

The latest changes come as Wikipedia continues trying to balance a need for credibility and a desire for openness.

The idea is to block the kind of high-profile vandalism that has marred some pages.

One of President Obama's campaign promises was to make the US government more open and transparent.

"It's a great opportunity to redefine how government works," said Mr O'Reilly

"We've got to recognise that we can't treat the American people as subjects but as co-creators of ideas. We need to tap into the vast amounts of knowledge... in communities across the country.

Cairo

Mr Berry: When you walk in the gate it's nice. It gives you the impression that maybe you have a place in Australia maybe, maybe it feels like you in Australia, maybe somebody else, OK, maybe in Saudi Arabia, or anywhere else in the world, maybe in Italy, maybe somebody has the same feeling like Oh, this looks somewhere in Rome, somewhere in Greece

Mr Berry: Golf, it's a very prestigious thing.

Jia Zhangke and Zhao Liang, had withdrawn their films from the festival in protest at the inclusion of a documentary about Rebiya Kadeer, leader of the World Uygur Congress (WUC), which the Chinese believed to be behind the deadly July 5 riot in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

had attracted more than 4,000 comments. Almost all of the postings were in support of the two directors.

Only a couple said Jia was trying to earn publicity, but they were immediately criticized by others, defending Jia as a talented director who had always been low-key .

To coincide with the opening of Tomorrow City in Incheon, Federation Square will engage in a world first interactive screen broadcast with Korea. The first event will feature a program of official representation from both cities including: poetry, literature and screen-based artworks.

President Barack Obama's candid thoughts about Kanye West are provoking a debate over standards of journalism in the Twitter age.

But he said it is broadcast tradition that such pre-interview chatter is considered off the record until the formal interview begins.

The incident is reminiscent of past "open-mic" incidents involving politicians

Victorian Premier John Brumby, a Masterchef and dogs catching Frisbees will all be at the Royal Melbourne Show on Thursday as the big event is officially opened.

The "AIDS is a mass murderer" TV and cinema advert

The new campaign, designed by Regenbogen e.V. in conjunction with the advertising agency das comitee, speaks in clear terms: its slogan is "AIDS is a mass murderer". It features the greatest mass murderers in recent history having sex. TWITTER PROFIL 

The "Adolf" poster The "Saddam" poster The "Stalin" poster

Concubines are no longer kept hidden away behind closed doors. In modern China's far more open society, concubines can be seen in the shopping malls and cafes of the cities, especially in the south, where there are thousands of what are known as "er nai" or "second breast".

"China's future will be undermined in those corrupt officials' hands," wrote one outraged citizen. Another described the corrupt cadres who keep concubines as "absolutely superfluous, vampires, corrupt scum. They deserve to be killed".

The U.S. government should advance an "ambitious" plan for universal broadband availability and should ensure that broadband networks are open to all content and applications, according to a new study on public information needs in the digital age.

calls for new ideas to share news and information, even as the traditional newspaper industry appears near death.

The study calls for the U.S. government to increase support for public media and push ahead with the government transparency and accountability efforts

Pressure on Gordon Brown to agree to a televised debate between the three party leaders increased when the main news channels proposed a series of debates during the election campaign

Negotiations in the build-up to previous elections have been derailed by haggling over the structure of a debate, including the timing of opening speeches, the role of the moderator, and whether questions would be taken unscripted from a studio audience or agreed in advance.