Justice inquiries into Google Book Deal show it's all but dead

Now, there can be no question that the Google Book Deal is in serious trouble. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal report. It seems the Justice Department has been really ramping up their inquiry into the deal.

The Justice Department has sent the requests, called civil investigative demands, to various parties, including Google, the Association of American Publishers, the Authors Guild and individual publishers, said Michael J. Boni, a partner at Boni & Zack, who represented the Authors Guild in negotiations with Google.

“They are asking for a lot of information,” Mr. Boni said. “It signals that they are serious about the antitrust implications of the settlement.”

The Journal adds that the civil investigative demands are the "strongest sign yet that the Justice Department may seek to block or force a renegotiation of the settlement."

How dead is this deal?

“The government must be a lot further along with this than people thought,” said Gary Reback, a lawyer who wrote a book on antitrust. “Now, there is a big boulder sitting on the judge’s desk. It is hard to see the judge approving this if a government investigation is pending.”