just to clarify a bit:

1) drm was requested by the publishers for protection of their intellectual property. these publishers were invited to participate in the pilot program developed by mbs.

2) yes, the textbook will be locked to a single computer. that software, however, does allow for backups and unlimited printing (with a few exceptions). also, in the case of crashes, technical support will be available for those that have purchased these ebooks to allow for a second download.

3) yes, drm will prevent copying to secondary saving devices or tools as requested by the publishers.

4) the five month activation only applies to specific books which are being discontinued and no longer published. some ebooks, at the publishers request again, are set to a minimum of 5 months activation.

5) true, ebooks will not be returnable.

6) again, yes, no buybacks. think about it for a second. if you decide to purchase a book for full price at $50.00, that's what you pay. the ebook would only run you $33.50. if you're short on cash, that seems like a good option. you can use the $16.50 for food or whatever you like. at the end of the semester, you'd be lucky to get 50% of what you paid anyway, and sure, there are bookstores that offer that. still, for most students, you get anywhere from 25-50% of the full purchased price. some, people lose some money, others benefit from it.

i think what most people are forgetting is that students have a choice now. for those that have the laptops and prefer ebooks, well, you have the choice to buy ebooks instead at a much lower cost. if you prefer to buy the actual book, well, go right ahead, they will still be there.