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I applaud the effort, but I will bet money on a follow-up story about a copyright lawsuit filed by some publisher.


My guess is that suing free textbooks out of existence will be a losing proposition on every level, so nobody will try.

Obviously, the optics will be terrible for the textbook company. That's problem one.

Problem two: The first strategy of a lawsuit is scorched-earth: Force your opponent to settle out of fear of legal expenses or an unpredictable jury. But:

Foundation Executive Director Neeru Khosla said the foundation started five years ago because she and her husband, Vinod Khosla, the founding CEO of Sun Microsystems, wanted to improve math and science education in the country.

Gosh, I wonder if Neeru and Vinod Khosla know any IP lawyers who'd be willing to help their nonprofit foundation defend some public schoolteachers?

The remaining strategy is to win the case. Maybe one of the schoolteachers was actually foolish enough to copy a whole chapter from a copyrighted book. Oops. Congratulations, that book goes off the web [1]...

... to be replaced by a different book with a new version of the infringing chapter, written by a completely different schoolteacher.

Given that mathematics is hardly a trade secret, it's going to be hard to squelch all of it.

The textbook companies should save their money for lobbyists and free gifts.

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[1] I wonder if the foundation hosting this textbook has a DMCA safe harbor defense. You would think so. But this is probably a good place to point out that I Am Not A Lawyer, IP Or Otherwise, So I Know Nothing.


That strategy isn't as cost-effective as sending the principal to Cancun for a "conference."




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