Download Textbooks Free or Cheaper

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/technology/15link.htlm

Taking a cue from the digital music world, a broad effort to publish free textbooks called "Connexions" is being funded by a large grant from the Hewlett Foundation. Unlike other projects that share course materials, Connexions uses a broad Creative Commons license allowing both students and teachers to rewrite and edit materials, as long as the originator is credited. Teachers put up modules, then mix and match their work with others' to create materials for students. Many of these texts are in statistics and electrical engineering, where updates are important. There have been more than 850,000 unique users per month, with more than half from outside the U.S. Connexions own the copyrights, but I wonder about the implications for copyright law, since there wouldn't be "economic harm" resulting from "violations." A different project called CourseSmart (the business and copyrights are owned by 5 publishers) allows students to subscribe to a textbook and read it online, with the option of printing out portions. Costs are generally half what a print book costs, and there are about 4,000 titles currently. Seems like a win in terms of copyright/public economics/student access.