Princeton to launch DRM'd textbook program

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
Date: August 6, 2005 10:50:53 PM EDT
To: Infowarrior List <infowarrior () g2-forward org>
Cc: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Princeton to launch DRM'd textbook program



This is utterly crazy.  One hopes that students will realize the  
foolishness
of this strategy and stick to "old fashioned" textbooks that are far  
more
user-friendly and enduring than this half-brained DRM scheme.

-rick



http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=4658

We admire Princeton not only for its beautiful campus and its myriad of
creative minds, but also for its courage to embrace new technologies.
Starting in the fall semester, the school will offer digital  
textbooks to
its students in partnership with Missouri-based MBS Textbook Exchange  
Inc
and various textbook publishers. The student only needs to pick up a
barcoded textbook card (see attached screenshot), activate it at the  
cash
register for usually 33 percent less than the new-book price, and go  
online
for a one-time download of the textbook in PDF format.

Alas, the e-books are encoded in DRM which pretty much spoils the  
potential
success of this pilot project:

    * Textbook is locked to the computer where you downloaded it from;
    * Copying and burning to CD is prohibited;
    * Printing is limited to small passages;
    * Unless otherwise stated, textbook activation expires after 5  
months
(*gasp*);
    * Activated textbooks are not returnable;
    * Buyback is not possible.

...and the PDF Press Release from the Publishing Company:
http://www.digitaltextbooks.net/cgi-dts/pressrelease.pdf





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