by: Tom Corelis
News posts from Textbook Torrents admin Stoney. The first post is on the bottom.
Textbook Torrents removes 78 books from its website after receiving a takedown notice
While sites such as The Pirate Bay and OiNK have enjoyed the majority of content owners’ wrath, a number of smaller BitTorrent sites have existed out of the limelight, catering to niche interests. One such website, TextbookTorrents.com, appears to have attracted the interest of an entirely new class of copyright holders: textbook publishers. The site allows users to upload torrents pointing to scans and PDFs of academic textbooks.
“On Friday, we received a request from Pearson Education, one of the bigger textbook publishers, listing 78 torrents that they wanted disabled,” reads a July 1 news post. “While they are acting on extremely shaky legal ground, we are not in a position to fight a legal battle with the organization. As a result, in the interest of allowing the continued existence of this place, I have acceded to their request and disabled access to the listed torrents.”
The site makes no effort to hide its intentions, and openly implores users to contribute moments after they sign up. To that end, it is remarkably frank in its calls for reform in the academic textbook community – overpriced, frequently-updated textbooks are a staple element in students’ complaints about education – and administrator Stoney seems to see Textbook Torrents as a kind of rage against the industry machine.
“Textbook Torrents has always been about more than downloading free stuff. Overpriced textbooks are a problem for all of us, and the remarkable popularity of the site should send a strong message to anyone with ears to listen,” reads a follow-up post.
The site’s niche interest has allowed it to fly under the radar of publishers’ lawyers, and even when the lawyers do come out their stance is considerably softer than the movie, music, and even software industries. Textbook Torrents – which says it is acting pretty much alone in its efforts to post textbooks online – has been able to act freely, enjoying the freedom of its niche status.
But with all the doom-and-gloom publicity the site has received over its announcement of the takedown – Stoney readily admits that he’s seen “thousands” of new sign-ups since the July 1 newspost – many are wondering if the site can withstand its predicted, future legal barrage. Textbook Torrents acknowledges that eventuality, and instead uses a fatalistic stance to advocate the spread of similar Torrent trackers before it’s too late.
“Nothing lasts forever, least of all BitTorrent trackers,” reads the follow-up. “We stand at the leading edge of this movement, and we stand alone … Were the site to be taken down, a unique site would be lost and [its] niche would be empty once again.”
Despite the grim outlook, Textbook Torrents predict its end anytime soon. The site still openly welcomes any content adhering to its rules, and it will continue its unusual stance of promoting members who submit new material over members who seed torrents regularly.
