Google and the World Brain: The Audacious Attempt to Control Human Knowledge

Synopsis: In 1937, the science fiction writer H. G. Wells imagined a "World Brain" containing all of the world’s knowledge, accessible to all people, that would be "so compact in its material form and so gigantic in its scope and possible influence" that it could transcend even nation states and governments. Seventy years later, Google set about realising Wells’s vision, launching a massive project to scan millions of books from university library collections. But when it was discovered that over half of the first ten million books Google scanned were still in copyright, authors from around the world joined together to wage a fierce legal battle against the Internet giant, culminating in a dramatic courtroom showdown in 2011. GOOGLE AND THE WORLD BRAIN tells the story of this complicated struggle over intellectual property and access to human knowledge, offering crucial insights into broader debates surrounding data-mining and privacy, downloading and copyright, fair use, freedom and surveillance.
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Year of release: 2013
Subjects: Information technology; Law; Media studies
Keywords: copyright law; intellectual property rights; libraries; Librarianship; digitisation projects; search engines

Name: Media Education Foundation
Email: info@mediaed.org
Web: http://www.mediaed.org External site opens in new window
Phone: +1 413 584 8500
Fax: +1 413 586 8398
Address: 60 Masonic Street
Northampton
Massachusetts 01060
USA
Notes: The MEF produces and distributes documentary films and other educational resources to inspire critical reflection on the social, political and cultural impact of the mass media, particularly in the US, with emphasis on gender, health, politics, race and commercialism. Sale on DVD.

This record has been viewed 582 times.