Will Google's Net Neutrality Shift Complicate the Book Settlement?

Publishers Weekly:

With the Google book Settlement still pending approval in Judge Denny Chin's court, observers say that a shift last week in Google's stance on the issue of 'net neutrality' raises new questions about the deal. ...

Now more than six months since the book settlement's final fairness hearing, New York Law School professor James Grimmelmann suggested that the company's retreat on net neutrality principles could complicate the already complex settlement debate. "What I think the [Verizon-Google] proposal sets up in sharp relief is the question of which services under the [book] settlement are optional and which are mandatory," Grimmelmann explained to PW. "Settlement opponents could well use the Verizon-Google proposal as evidence that commitments or options that don't actually bind Google may never happen, and therefore shouldn't be counted in the settlement's favor. ...