Students see piracy as alternative to high textbook prices

Online piracy, typically associated with the illegal sharing of movies, music and video games, is broadening its horizons with textbooks. The excessive price of textbooks, in addition to the growing ubiquity of tablets and other portable digital media, has driven many a cash-strapped student to illegally download pirated digital copies of textbooks in an effort to save money.

A textbook found on piratebay.org, a popular file-sharing site.
Photo taken from the New York Times.

Cal State Long Beach senior Julie Boll, now nearly $19,000 in debt, found that her textbook costs for the semester would come to nearly $700. With no means of paying, piracy soon became the best option.

"I have paid literally thousands of dollars to [textbook distributors]," Boll told the Daily 49er. "I can't afford to line their pockets this semester, and I don't think they should really blame me."

The textbooks come from a variety of sources: some are hacked versions of official digital copies, allowing for unrestricted copying and distribution, others are uploaded by a determined set of students who physically scan library copies of the textbooks. 

Even some professors are tacitly supporting textbook piracy. "I do not go so far as to provide them with copies, but at the start of every semester, I make it very clear to my students that there are free copies of their $200 textbook on the internet," an anonymous CSULB professor told the Daily 49er.

In response, several major textbook publishers have initiated legal action. Recently, a court found popular file-sharing site Rapidshare liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for textbooks illegally hosted on their site. Publishers have also threatened students with legal actions if they did not pay a settlement.

Further Reading:
NY Times