I love Microsoft as much as the next guy, but I don't think many folks realize that they're much more than a search engine these days. In taking on publishers and authors, circumventing control, they're foisting tremendous responsibilities upon a traditional ecosystem that's just not ready to move forward. Let's just say that Microsoft wins this battle, and can make any bit of printed text searchable – who wins and who loses? Ultimately, Microsoft would themselves become the ONLY publisher on the planet. The originating publishers would become marginalized, with the search engine making one appear the same as another – making content king, not the marketing plan behind it.
And who in their right mind would dare go against Microsoft? The mindshare is much too powerful to question. The issue is all about control. The publishing industry controls the writers, much like the music industry controls the musicians, much like the television industry controls the shows, much like the motion picture industry controls the… whatever. It's all about control – and just how much control are we willing to give Microsoft?
Er, Google… I meant to say Google. Or did I?