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The US Department of Justice has created another hurdle for Google's plans to build a huge online bookstore, news.com.au reports.
The DOJ yesterday came out against a revised legal settlement with US authors and publishers that would allow Google to scan and sell millions of books online.
It is concerned that Google's revised agreement with authors will still prevent competition and create copyright issues.
Federal lawyers told the US District Court in New York that despite "substantial progress" between Google, The Authors Guild and other involved parties "class certification, copyright and antitrust issues remain."
Despite good faith efforts by all sides, the amended agreement "suffers from the same core problem as the original agreement," the DOJ said in a court statement.
Judge Denny Chin is to hold a hearing on February 18 on Google's vast digital book project.
