Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-26-Speech-4-076"
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"en.20091126.4.4-076"2
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"Madam President, Google is an American company we all know well, providing online services which many of us use on a daily basis. As their European headquarters is located in Ireland, I know they are an excellent employer and real leader in cutting-edge internet technology.
The digitisation of books, such as the Google Books Project, has the potential to unlock huge volumes of the world’s collective knowledge and cultural heritage. We should support efforts to make books searchable, readable and downloadable. We all agree that a digital library of the scope Google is proposing will mean real benefits. This is especially true for our libraries in Europe, which store books dating as far back as the 17th century. Few people are able to see those books, but putting them online will allow the world to study and enjoy their contents.
However, the question we must, as Europeans, ask is whether that vast array of knowledge and culture should be monopolised by one private American company. I have no doubt Google wish to uphold their famous motto ‘Do no evil’. However, what guarantee would we have that they would not use monopoly power to price these books above the range of ordinary citizens? Public access to such resources is of paramount importance.
In fact, we must do all we can to support our own digital library. Europeana makes available online nearly five million items. Its mission is to offer the widest possible public access to cultural collections from across Europe. I regret that only France has contributed seriously so far and that others, including Ireland, have contributed little. Given that my own country has such a rich and impressive literary history, I call on the Irish Government to participate more fully in the Europeana project.
We must cherish public access to our shared European culture and heritage. The clear message to all European cultural institutions must be to digitise and to digitise now."@en1
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