[Ecommerce] Princeton University and DRMs

[Jacqueline Morris]

So what happens if you download it at one of the shared library
computers? Do you have to go back to the same  computer everytime to
be able to read it? I mean - not everyone will have a computer all the
time - suppose your computer goes wonky and you have to use the stuff
you backed up to cd - oops - you can't back up your schoolbooks to CD?
And if you get a new computer you can't read your books anymore?
Definitely a retrograde step.
Jacqueline

On 8/8/05, Manon Ress <manon.ress@cptech.org> wrote:
> --
> [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> Princeton University goes digital - the wrong way
>
> 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.
>
> If this hasn't scared you off already, click here to read the rest in
> the press release.
>
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Jacqueline Morris
www.carnivalondenet.com
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