Microsoft - evil empire - turns good guy

The Guardian reports: Microsoft, in an agreement with Kirtas, which has developed the fastest robotic scanner in the world, will scan up to 2,400 pages per hour (with a guaranteed error rate lower than 1 per 10,000 pages) in a bid to muscle in to Google territory.

Last year Google ran into a storm of protests when it announced plans to put online 15million volumes from four top US repositories - the libraries of Stanford, Michigan and Harvard Universities, and of the New York Public Library. (It is currently being sued for copyright violation.)

It appears Microsoft has learned from the mistakes of its enemy. It is limiting its own initiative to out-of-copyright material and in-copyright books with explicit permission. (What?! Microsoft turns ethical? I hear a cry.)

So, how much will that impact booksellers? In my opinion, not much. Libraries have always existed and must continue to exist. Then we have a situation like the University of Malaya library. I know, they had a fabulous collection when I was a student there. I will assume they still do and have not made too many appointments with the paper-lama man. But, it is quite obvious from their policies that they do not actively encourage free public access. I agree that a collection in a library like in UM is priceless (hundreds of years old in some cases) and you do not want to risk damage or loss. But knowledge is a human right.

I cannot but support the efforts of Microsoft even if they are the evil empire.