[IP] Re: BitTorrent now being used for piracy of textbooks

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

________________________________________
From: Geoff Kuenning [geoff@cs.hmc.edu]
Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2008 7:52 PM
To: David Farber
Cc: ip@v2.listbox.com
Subject: Re: BitTorrent now being used for piracy of textbooks

While I sympathize with the sticker shock on textbooks (and try to
take prices into account when I assign books for my classes), I doubt
that the publishers are, in Kris Kirby's words, "wallowing in
currency".  Nor, even if they are getting rich, does that justify
stealing copies.

I'm neither an author nor a publisher, but it strikes me that textbook
publishing isn't likely to be a get-rich-quick business.  For every
successful book, there are dozens or hundreds that only sell a few
hundred copies.  The market demands books that are printed in multiple
colors, often in a fairly frivolous manner (e.g., blue subheadings,
color-coded marginal notes, etc.).  Technical books require extensive
proofreading and fancy illustrations, few of which are produced in
final form by the author.  Technical fields also move very fast; I'm
currently using a book from 2003 and desperately awaiting a new
edition that will be outdated the moment it hits the shelves.

There are a number of things that can be done by both faculty and
students to help cut textbook costs.  But piracy isn't the answer.
--
    Geoff Kuenning   geoff@cs.hmc.edu   http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~geoff/

If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be research, would it?
                -- Albert Einstein



-------------------------------------------