>From the "Oh, Give Me a Break Already" department:
> Harvard Co-Op Gets An "F" On Intellectual Property > http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1194 "With the exception of the IP Mafia and its supporters/enablers, just about everyone recognizes that folks sometimes use copyright as an anticompetitive tool or tool for intimidation rather than to "promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts" by ensuring creators get compensated. While we can argue about how often this occurs or how much it genuinely chills free speech, you occasionally run into a case of copyright abuse so utterly blatant that it cries out for legal action - or at the very least a healthy dose of ridicule. ... the ridiculous claim by the Harvard University Bookstore, aka the Harvard Coop. As reported by the Harvard Crimson ... the Harvard CooP claims it can eject students that write down the prices and ISBN numbers of text books. Why? According to Harvard Coop President Jerry P Murphy, "the Coop considers that information the Coop's intellectual property." The Coop denies, of course, that it is trying to make it harder for students to use online services such as Crimsonreading.org to find cheaper textbooks. No doubt Mr. Murphy sincerely believes that if you allow students to copy publicly displayed prices and ISBN numbers, it will just be the poor text book authors and text book publishers that suffer. And if the Harvard Coop doesn't stick up for helpless textbook authors and publishers, the entire textbook industry will go bankrupt, our system of secondary education will fail, America will lose its global competitiveness, and the terrorists will win." Amalyah Keshet Head of Image Resources & Copyright Management The Israel Museum, Jerusalem akeshet at imj.org.il Chair, MCN IP SIG www.mcn.edu Blog www.musematic.net Please consider the environment before printing this email
