Google Thinks It Owns Our Books!

For the past several days, I’ve been in Google Books, liberating books from Google’s grasp.

And make no mistake: they are in Google’s grasp.

Here is proof:

Click = big

My M.O. has been Search, open book in new tab, Add to Library, then download PDF, then download ePub. With CAPCHAs between each download step.

And still Google thinks my PC is a bot?

Baloney.

Keep this incident in mind when Google brays about universal and unlimited access to the world’s books.

This is not unlimited.

Every book must be removed from Google’s grasp.

Update: This lock-out extends to accessing Google Books entirely. I get that screen when I simply go to http://books.google.com. In other words, I can’t even see the front page of it! The Google ID I was using was the one for my old Blogger version of this blog. How’s that for additional irony? I’ve filled out Google’s “I’m not a damned bot” form. Let’s see how long this lock-out lasts.

Second update: Three hours later, I can get back into Google Books. No email reply from Google, however, and no explanation. I was able to get back in with Firefox earlier. Total access, including downloading. So how are they tracking so-called alleged bots — via browser being used? It’s certainly not IP address.