blog » August 15, 2005/Right to Read

Stallman was right. Several publishers are now introducing textbooks that are restricted using DRM. (/.) For a mere 33% discount off the print-copy price, students will be able to download an electronic version that expires after 150 days (or a little under 5 months). That means that students won’t be able to refer to their textbook later on, or to resell the books (which can be better than a 33% discount). The publishers are essentially saying that their books are useless for anything outside the scope of the course. (Of course, I have some textbooks that I will never refer to again — and several textbooks that I have never looked at, even when I was taking the course.)