Developers Of Chrome Extension That Finds Cheaper Textbook Prices Receive Legal Threats From Major Textbook Supplier
from the cease-and-desist-of-self-affliction-+1 dept
The textbook publishing industry has turned books of facts into overvalued goods on par with "priceless" finds at antique stores. To keep margins high and the revenue stream flowing, publishers screw with pagination in order to create "new" editions every year, turning textbooks into useless piles of paper the moment they're purchased. Trading one in at the end of the class means receiving pennies on the dollar for your original investment. Stocking up for another semester's worth of classes means shelling out hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. Rinse. Repeat.So, when someone comes along and threatens this business model, publishers are swift to react. Offensive efforts -- like locking schools into yearly purchases for instructors' versions and acting as "partners" in campus bookstores -- have mitigated most of the damage caused by outside forces like Amazon and used book retailers.
But the publishers also play defense. A side project from Texts.com (a service that helps students scour the web for the best prices on textbooks) has caught the attention of Follett, one of the nation's largest suppliers of campus bookstores.
OccupyTheBookstore is a Chrome extension that allows users to find better prices on textbooks while browsing bookstore websites. Follett doesn't like this because the extension draws sales away from the stores it supplies. It sent a cease-and-desist request to the team behind the extension, asking (nicely, at this point) to knock it off or it will be "forced" to involve its legal team.
In an AMA at Reddit, the team announced it has no interest in complying with Follett's request.
We've been asked to remove the extension by Follett, a $2.7 billion company that services over 1700+ college bookstores. Instead of complying, we rebuilt the extension from the ground up and re-branded it as #OccupyTheBookstore, as the user is literally occupying their website to find cheaper deals.Because of the way the extension is constructed and operates, it would appear Follett has no legal basis for its takedown demand.
Follett had a few angles, none of which have much merit:
They could try the Copyright angle, arguing that our plugin constitutes copyright infringement by creating an unauthorized adaptation of their page. That said, we're opt-in, so while we are modifying the web page, we're only doing so with the end-users permission. Additionally, we’re not manipulating information or blocking the ability to use any/all aspects of the site if the end user so desires.
They could also try the Terms of Service angle, saying that we're knowingly equipping their users to breach the TOS by using scrapers, data-extractors, etc. That said, we never directly interact with any bookstore website, we merely supplement information provided by the end-users local browser. As such, we think that they could theoretically go after the individual student, but they probably would never bother.
In searching for precedent, we looked at AdBlock heavily, and also at price-comparison plugins like Honey.This thought process was confirmed by Honey's developer, who pointed out that end users have the right to modify content delivered to their browsers. What the extension does is bring Text.com's search power to the bookstores' websites via an overlaid menu. It makes no use of the original website other than to gather the book information needed to provide relevant results -- something any user could do with a few extra steps. The original website is unaltered. Only the new menu -- opted into by the end user -- provides anything different from the normal user experience.
Follett's legal team has likely already determined the company can't do much about this extension, hence the polite request to stop. The next move -- if there is one -- will probably be vague pressure and subtle hints about expensive future court battles, even if the extension's developers would likely prevail. The good news is that the team has heard from the EFF, which has extensive experience in fighting this sort of quasi-legal chicanery.
The other good news is the inadvertent effect of Follett's shutdown attempt: the extension is far more popular now than it was before the company tried to head off this threat to its business model.
In an interview, [Texts.com founder Peter] Frank said that before today the tool had only been downloaded 200 times since it was first made available in April. By Friday evening, it had been downloaded 15,000 times.All Follett had to do was leave it alone. Now, it's faced with a viral opponent and armed with little more than law firm letterhead.
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Filed Under: chrome, extension, occupy the bookstore, occupythebookstore, peter frank, prices, textbooks, threats
Companies: follett, texts.com
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Viral opponent? I'm flattered.
Signed: Ms Streisand.
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The fact that the EFF has apparently stepped up and shown interest might be enough to keep it from reaching that point, it depends on how much control the publisher has over their lawyers, and themselves.
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Well it really makes sense for the EFF to be willing to get involved if it goes to court. A victory for the publisher would almost certainly mean that extensions like Adblock would also be made illegal. In fact, pretty much any extension that alters a page could become illegal (so, most of them?).
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And firewalls. heck even Web-browsers have setting to block pup-ups. Also don't forget HOSTS file blocking method.
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This gets stated far too infrequently.
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seriously?
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The literal truth is what newspapers print; it varies hugely from what actually happened. The literal meaning of a word is what is recorded in a dictionary.
Of course, these days, the literal meaning of literal is a wee bit tortured in dictionaries....
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Make sure you are using proper Units. 98.6*C is pretty close to boiling. 98.6*F is warm, but not close to boiling.
Wouldn't want to accidentally fly a satellite into Mars or something like that because you got your units mixed up.
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Ah, yes, the only other way your blood would literally boil (well, so long as you weren't wearing a spacesuit and your skin got cut.)
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(https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/literally/odlbpehkpefnmehgdofblnagjpimaanh? hl=en)
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Shouldn't that be 'if only there were an add-on that could bring back the proper use of the subjunctive?'
:)
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Also, he said literary bound, so he gets bonus points for making a pun.
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http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/the-wrong-definition-of-literally-is-literally-going -in-the
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That makes it so much better.
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But hey, at least nine tenths of Gwiz survived this thread ;)
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I would have figured the Republicans would have taken on this college issue from a economic system, justice system, legal system and monetary system stand point. I mean the colleges are involved with financial fraud, the costs are not unlike the medical industry $500 bandage and $1000 asprins, that the colleges ought to be boycotted until they get their heads out of their behind.
or
Especially the lefties, the green tards, the brainwashed agenda 21 carbon tax people. Your refusal to defend this app developer... IT goes to show all you truly want is for everyone to be milked as a slave until they are dead.
Your both fascists, you both don't give a crap about the Constitution and Bill of Rights, you don't think for yourselves, and you don't have solutions for the nightmare about to unfold.
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For many if not most degrees, there is a very large return on investment over a lifetime. That's why.
Especially the lefties, the green tards, the brainwashed agenda 21 carbon tax people. Your refusal to defend this app developer...
Who is refusing to defend the app developer? I have not seen anyone sticking up for the book publisher over this.
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Whether or not a degree is worthwhile is purely an economic question: will you make more money (factoring in the cost of education) with it than without it over your lifetime? The answer is not necessarily "yes".
Whether or not the "well rounded" education from a university is worth the cost it is a purely personal call. For most people, it's not.
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Isn't "education" a reason for fair use?
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Holy Streisand Effect Batman
>before today the tool had only been downloaded 200 times
>since it was first made available in April. By Friday
>evening, it had been downloaded 15,000 times.
Saint Barbara visits another with the gift of page views.
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This is why the tutors at my college tell us to look up the relevant section in the index. That way, it doesn't matter what edition of the textbook you're using, you'll still have access to the same information as everyone else in the class. I guess indices are the next thing that textbook publishers will get rid of.
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Free Money
Should these Text.com guys get paid for doing nothing? Bookstores operate with a 25% margin for new books. The clothing we all buy averages 65%. 25% is less than nearly all margins for consumer goods when sold in a b&m store. Textbooks do cost way too much, but who really buys new books? I see $1,200 a year for books being quoted all the time but no student I know spends over $400 a year due to the many options open to them.
Textbooks have risen about 800% in the last 30 years, tuition has risen 1,100% in the same timeframe. If you want to make a real impact on the cost of education you might want to concentrate on tuition. Or is that too hard?
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Re: Free Money
If they're getting paid, it's for offering a valuable service.
Bookstores operate with a 25% margin for new books.
The profits or lack thereof of any industry don't justify restricting competition.
If you want to make a real impact on the cost of education you might want to concentrate on tuition.
That argument is called a fallacy of relative privation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy_of_relative_privation
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Re: Free Money
Texts.com isn't getting free money. They are entrepreneurs to be applauded for identifying a consumer need and responding to it. Beyond that, they are helping students save money. That makes it a noble pursuit in my mind. Better than trying to find ways to prevent fair competition....
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Find Better Textbook Prices with CampusBooks.com
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