Anti-Piracy Patent Stops Students From Sharing Textbooks
A new patent granted this week aims to stop students from sharing textbooks, both off and online. The patent awarded to economics professor Joseph Henry Vogel hopes to embed the publishing world even further into academia. Under his proposal, students can only participate in courses when they buy an online access code which allows them to use the course book. No access code means a lower grade, all in the best interests of science.For centuries, students have shared textbooks with each other, but a new patent aims to stop this “infringing” habit.
The patent in question was granted to Professor of Economics Joseph Henry Vogel. He believes that piracy, lending and reselling of books is a threat to the publishing industry.
“Professors are increasingly turning a blind eye when students appear in class with photocopied pages. Others facilitate piracy by placing texts in the library reserve where they can be photocopied,” Vogel writes.
The result is less money for publishers, and fewer opportunities for professors like himself to get published. With Vogel’s invention, however, this threat can be stopped.
http://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-patent-prevents-students-from-sharing-books-120610/
There are so many things wrong with this I don't even know where to start.
= new reply since forum marked as read
This idea isn't all that creative: it requires participation on a web board by the student and for that, the student must purchase an access code. The access code can be purchased separately from the book, so the system still allows students to purchase a used book.
So how does "the system" know if the student is using a pirated textbook or a used textbook?
The flaw in Vogel's "invention" is that he is assuming other professors will support him. I don't think so. I think that the prices on textbooks have been outrageously high for so long that they have lost the support of many of the teachers. A teacher has the option of whether to require the web board participation or not.
Also, the article says professors are increasingly turning a blind eye to photocopied pages, etc. Where does it say it's our job to police the publishing industry? That's their job, not ours. My colleagues and I just consider ourselves lucky if students get the book. These days, students look at buying the book as optional.
Getting them to read it is another thing entirely.
Very lame response by the textbook publishing industry, IMO.
Cher
I let my students buy the int'l editions.
Also, I have compared page-by-page newer editions to the older editions. I have become convinced the only reason for the newer editions is that the publisher has seen there are too many used copies out there floating around. That's because there are rarely substantial changes. On one from a recent semester, the author only changed the order of a few chapters, so what was once chapter 7 was now chapter 4; what was chapter 5 was now chapter whatever, and so on.
I sympathize with both sides--the students and the professors. Of all the professions, professors get paid the least, compared to doctors and lawyers. Also professors are under pressure to publish.
Yet our country has been ripping students off for the last decade. Tuition costs are through the roof and we all know about the number one debt in the country. It is unconscionable to make students pay huge amounts for books, especially when the technology now exists to make it less expensive for them.
If publishers charged a fair price, I think most students would pay it. I know my students and most are fundamentally honest. The ridiculousness of the prices is forcing students to cut corners where they can.
Cher
(Spoken as a mother of a soon-to-be-college-bound child.) 
