Textbook Torrents
Textbook Torrents Permanently Offline
(updates below or see Rapidshare Textbooks or Free Textbooks)
Textbook Torrents is using BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol, to let students download textbooks for free. The site not only allows Torrents for those open textbooks but allows users to scan and upload other textbooks.
Scan as many of your other textbooks as you can, and put them up here for others to benefit from. There aren’t very many scanned texts out there, so let’s change that.
A basic rule of thumb to determine if something is acceptable: if you can find it in the courses section of your local university bookstore, it’s fair game.
Sites like Textbook Torrents are reacting to the increasingly high cost of textbooks. According to a 2004 CALPIRG study, the average textbook costs $102 and students spent almost $900 a school year on textbooks. Many believe these prices are artificially high, creating windfall profit centers for publishers on the backs of students who essentially must purchase these textbooks.
The used textbook marketplace has flourished because of these high prices, though the shelf life of a textbook seems to be decreasing as publishers crank out updates and editions on a more regular basis. The Amazon Kindle is also delivering textbooks via digital download.
It’s no surprise that students are using new technology to defray the cost of their education. Obviously the textbook landscape would collapse if the majority of students sourced their textbooks via Torrents - authors need to be compensated, publishers need to run a business.
But publishers shouldn’t squawk too much about these developments. High textbook prices were the accelerant to the flux in the textbook market. Now they’re scrambling to protect their cash cow in the encroaching digital age.
Textbook Torrents Update (July 14, 2008 - 2:00pm)
As noted by readers, the textbooktorrents.com website is currently offline. The error data (”not found on this server”) makes me believe that the owner took it down or that the host (DreamHost) took it down. Please note that Google still has pages from textbooktorrents.com in their index. Google hasn’t banned the site, it’s simply not ranking high because there’s no longer any relevant content on these pages.
I’m guessing this disappearing act is due to legal pressure brought by publishers. The domain doesn’t expire until January 2011. Perhaps textbooktorrents.com will come back when a new host is secured … or not if the publisher pressure was simply too much to handle.
Textbook Torrents Update (July 14, 2008 - 2:57pm)
I emailed DreamHost in what I thought would be a vain attempt to gain some information on the Textbook Torrents situation. To my pleasant surprise, DreamHost responded to my inquiry within the hour. Below is the text of that email:
We received very long DMCA takedown notices from publishers of the content in question. The site was further closed down due to violations of our Terms of Service due to it’s illegal facilitation of the distribution of copyrighted content without the copyright owners consent.
While I sympathize with students and the cost of textbooks, you can’t fault DreamHost for pulling the plug. Based on the information provided above, I’d be surprised if any major US host would touch Textbook Torrents at this point.
Textbook Torrents Update (July 30, 2008 - 8:22am)
Textbooktorrents.com is still down as we hit the height of textbook season. I’ll continue to look for signs of life and encourage anyone with information to comment or contact me directly. In the interim, students can check out my list of other free textbook sites.
Textbook Torrent Update (July 30, 2008 - 9:02am)
Thank you to xGeNeSisx who tipped us off that Textbook Torrents is up and running but at a different address: http://85.17.226.223/
Textbook Torrent Update (October 13, 2008 - 5:31pm)
Textbook Torrents is now permanently offline. Following is the farewell text:
Textbook Torrents is now permanently offline.
There are a number of reasons for this, but I would be lying if I claimed that the concern of legal action wasn’t a major factor in the decision. However, it was by no means the only reason. Upkeep of a site this size is a lot of work, increasingly so as time progressed. What’s more, two years is a long time to be running a site of this nature.
I am at heart an activist, a crusader for the underdog. When I see something that I believe is wrong, I do what I can to fix it, if only in some small way. I believe this is what Textbook Torrents has stood for, and what we have done. The amount of attention that we have garnered would not have been possible by simply running around with a sandwich board and shouting slogans. We have opened people’s eyes, and gotten them talking. At its true purpose, the site has been successful beyond my wildest dreams.
What we have started here does not stop with one site. It is real, and it is now up to you to continue. Take what you have learned and experienced here and go forth. If you’re able, start new sites. Find new ways to open new eyes. Keep the revolution going. It is not a revolution of one, not even of eight staff members: it is a revolution of 100,000. We have done nothing here but provide you with a venue to voice your discontent, and the ideological sentiment that we all share need not end with Textbook Torrents. Indeed, it must live on.
For my part, I have other causes that need fighting for. There are all kinds of ways to fight all kinds of battles, and it is unlikely that I will find myself running a BitTorrent tracker again. I will step back from this and hope that you will carry on in our place.
Thanks for everything, folks. Thanks for making Textbook Torrents everything that it was, and for adding your voices to mine. Now it’s your turn.
Geekman
(Former) Textbook Torrents administrator
July 5th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Stealing is stealing, no matter how you rationalize it. If you steal someone elses work, you are a theif. Pure and simple.
July 7th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Guess I’m a thief. Enjoy you 900 dollar textbook fee, sucker.
July 7th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Stealing is an illusion designed by People who want to control others. How can you steal information that belongs to everyone in the world. Some one monopolizes the pursuit of knowledge and you take there lead. It called sharing we teach our children if you have something others kids want share so all can enjoy. But now as adults we are taught not to share what we have, and when we do some call it stealing. Companies we always hold the keys to your happiness and knowledge if you buy into the Illusions
July 8th, 2008 at 6:13 am
It isn’t stealing, it is copyright infringement. Big difference.
Textbooktorrents has been down for a couple of days. Thank God for them (and all the people who put hard work into scanning textbooks). Imagine all the people they have helped afford college.
July 10th, 2008 at 6:16 am
Hey dudes don’t steal. Even though I stole it from others I worked hard and deserve my billions
July 12th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I love how people who view this situation as black and white always, ALWAYS present their argument with spelling, grammar, and/or punctuation errors. Must you always undercut your own arguments by displaying your lack of education? Errors of that nature only, at least in people like myself, cause your argument to look that much less intelligent. And, believe me, you don’t need any help with that.
Attempting to equate the theft of property, which can be limited in supply, with the duplication of intellectual property, which can be replicated ad infinitum, is a futile venture. Even the owners of the copyrights in question have not been able to convince the legal establishment of their equivalence 100% of the time, and the legal establishment WANTS to believe it, at least in the sense that copyright ownership contributes to the tax revenues that support the legal system, while online piracy does not. The fact that this question is being debated in the highest courts of nations around the world shows that stealing is NOT simply “stealing,” ‘jmellett’, no matter how your primitive, dualistic brain desires that simplicity to exist.
My point, before I was sidetracked by idiocy, is that Textbook Torrents seems to have been completely taken down… for the last week it has given out 4xx messages for tracking, and now it has disappeared from Google. Several texts on chemical engineering and laboratory glassblowing were made available on this website that I have never seen in a bookstore or library before, and the loss of this data from the internet would be a great travesty. Keep an eye out on Demonoid and BTJunkie for informative torrents; the independent book-only torrent sites don’t seem to have the fortitude to withstand legal threats that the well-established torrent sites do.
July 13th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
If I am stealing what have I taken? Nothing. Its all 1s and 0s. I have not taken a limited resource. I have taken nothing from anyone.
July 13th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Give onto Satan that which is his, Give onto me that which is mine. Therefore because you are stealing from the devil you are stealing. Because everything in this world is owned by Satan. Satan’s war against you is the legal system. The lawyers are Satan’s army, they are all demons.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:41 am
The Amazon Kindle is also delivering textbooks via digital download.
Actaully, do your homework sir! I own a Kindle. In order to get new books or books off of Amazon, you must be like everyone else in the world, doing something legal, and pay for it! Just like iTunes or Rhapsody. Wake up and realize that just like the bands that work hard to perform songs, the authors of textbooks work much harder and longer to produce their work; their version of an album.
Youe other stataement:
It’s no surprise that students are using new technology to defray the cost of their education. Obviously the textbook landscape would collapse if the majority of students sourced their textbooks via Torrents - authors need to be compensated, publishers need to run a business
Wrong! Publishers are constanly trying to use technology, only to do it legally. Yes, where stduents must pay for content. And, yes, just like your business, it is a business. And, no the publishing industry will not collapse.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:14 am
We must remember that the ultimate purpose of copyright law is not to serve the authors, the artists, or, especially so, the publishers. Copyright law exists strictly for the benefit of the public. It provides a carrot-on-a-stick that encourages authors to write and painters to paint, which then increases the amount of works in the public domain.
(What follows is more relevant to the US than most other countries, so please forgive me for this.)
The carrot is a /temporary/ monopoly on exploiting that work before it is allowed to fall into free use by the public (public domain). Here is the excerpt from the US Constitution that grants power to congress to create copyright law,
“To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;”
Note the part “limited times”.
Due mostly to changes in the 20th century, copyright law has left this original purpose and become a twisted corruption that does more harm to the public than good. If copyright extensions remain as they are now (which is unlikely), most works written and recorded today won’t be placed into public domain until your grandchildren are senior citizens. Many won’t fall into public domain until your great-grandchildren are senior citizens. This doesn’t serve you, the public, at all.
If the duration of copyright was more reasonable, say something like 10 years for books, then all those college books from the late nineties would be legal to share online. You would barely have anyone accusing anyone else of being a thief (which would fall into that faulty copyright infringement == theft propaganda anyway). It would be completely legal, and, since calculus hasn’t changed in the last 10 years, students would benefit from this without going into even further debt (part of the point of the late Textbook Torrents).
That’s what copyright *should* be. Limited times. Let copyright serve the public as it was intended to.
Something to note, though it is beyond the scope of my blog-comment rant, is that it was also designed with the idea in mind that only publishers had access to printing presses (and copyright took away rights the public couldn’t practice anyway). In only the last 15-20 years, we all have had printing presses in our homes (aka computers). This changes *everything* about how copyright should work.
My conclusion is that you should generally only worry about copyrights when you are facing dangerous legal consequences. Go ahead, make copies of that CD for your friends. Install that software on as many machines as you like. Copyright in its current form is extremely unjust and should be ignored.
Richard Stallman has a bunch of interesting essays on copyright (and bringing up his name sometimes makes people mad too). I would link them, but it would just look like comment-spam, so just Google it.
July 15th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Who is stealing from whom when the math hasn’t changed in 100 years yet the editions are changed every 2 years. Not just math, any basic bio, chem, physics, hell even social science classes. Fuck textbook publishers, if they went down I wouldn’t be bothered
July 16th, 2008 at 12:29 am
unfortunately people only go to these sites because its more affordable for them. i admit ive used this site for my own use, it was wrong i know i sound like my head is high up my ass but the people who wrote these book need money to continue publishing if no one bought their book then where do you think the money is going to come from to print more books?
July 16th, 2008 at 6:38 am
I can’t afford the new textbook that is required every time the editions decide to change and all of my used science books are all over 100 dollars. I am a full time student with low funds and a college job income. This site would be a blessing in my eyes. I think most college textbooks should be free to download online with no charge. Also, if hard back textbooks weren’t made anymore it would help the environment by saving trees. I know I might sound like a tree huggin hippy, but its true. Back to the matter, if the information hasn’t changed why do the prices of these textbooks keep rising? I agree with ‘Hermes’.
July 16th, 2008 at 9:13 am
It’s a very interesting debate and I don’t think there’s a real black and white answer to the issue. Is it stealing? Perhaps. But a number of folks here have made good cases for why it shouldn’t be an issue in the first place.
If the material (Math, Chemistry etc.) hasn’t changed substantially (or at all) then why the continuous release of new editions? Shouldn’t these fundamentals be available to everyone? Knowledge shouldn’t be hoarded and why should specific views on these basics be critical to earning a passing grade?
Are students using one textbook versus another getting a radically different education or learning something the other is not? I don’t think so.
However, you don’t want to get to the point where there is simply one source available on the topic. Suddenly, there is an ossification of the material. The basics should be reviewed, tested, challenged and, when necessary, updated. In this way, the industry promotes academic integrity.
In my opinion the pendulum swung too far toward the publishing establishment and we’re seeing the natural reaction to high prices and cash cow practices. Would this had been nearly the issue it’s become if prices had been half the price? I doubt it.
And where do Universities and professors stand? Universities clearly have a revenue stake via their bookstores and encourage professors to publish, as a way to gain greater prestige and as an income supplement.
And couldn’t a University or even a professor simply use the older edition, or teach in a way in which any of the editions might suffice? Could a professor give a choice of editions and when assigning reading provide the correct chapters and/or pages for each edition? (There’s a service idea for some entrepreneur!)
I’m encouraged by the comments here and look forward to seeing more dialog and debate on the topic.
July 16th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Is it stealing? Of course. Theft is explicit; Textbook Torrents marketed itself as a textbook Robin Hood. Users may defend the practice. Just don’t insult your own intelligence by arguing the legality.
July 17th, 2008 at 12:48 am
“Is it stealing? Of course.”
“don’t insult your own intelligence by arguing the legality.”
As others have said, legally, copyright infringement and theft are completely different.
I used TT mostly for self study, for books I wouldn’t have been able to find elsewhere, so I’ll be sad to see it go. I wonder if the pirate bay has thought about a textbook section. I’ve seen some textbooks on there, but not as many as TT had.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:24 am
The book is not being sold. It is like going to a library and hundreds of people read the same single book for free, without being forced to buy it. If you don’t download and save a hard PDF copy, it is sharing a book like at a library. At scribd you can read it online without downloading it.
July 20th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Just as a comparison: in sports, using drugs is forbidden because it’s not fair: the teams with the most money can buy the most efficient products to boost their performance, whereas those who can’t afford them are left behind. Why shouldn’t it be like this in education and science? I don’t see why researchers or students with more money should be privileged by having better access to information. That’s simple: I don’t have the money to buy books, so if I don’t download them, I simply can’t read them. I’m happy though that people with money buy their books to keep authors going on with writing more… It’s just normal. At the same time, when I find a good book, I don’t give it to others, I just spread the word and contribute to its success. Same with software.
July 21st, 2008 at 4:52 am
RE: Textbook Torrents …. It’ll be back soon!
:::::::::: Here’s the latest info from the guy that runs it ::::::::
“On July 12, DreamHost unlocked my domains and provided me with the authorization codes for transfer. However, we don’t yet have a registrar/nameserver.
The bottom line: I have a full backup of the site that one of my moderators was able to update immediately prior to the takedown, and a new server is currently on order. We will be back, and hopefully we will be online sometime in the next week. Once the server is online and configured and our DNS update has propagated, we’ll be able to get back on our feet.
In the meantime, don’t lose hope. We’ll be back stronger than ever.”
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:50 am
[…] recent post on Textbook Torrents has been both popular and controversial. Though still off line the latest seems to indicate we […]
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I love the tracker I really can’t wait until it is back online!
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:00 am
Do you have to pay for knowledge? Yes, if it requires others’ efforts and time like let’s say college’s tuition. But it is horrendous to think of a 1000 pages of book would cost more than 100 bucks (and how much more would be for all you need just for a course because they change the version faster than the internet). The page, the effort of printing, etc, yes you should pay for that but the content? Agree that the author needs to get paid for his work, but why the publisher? Isn’t it free at the beginning already? If the price of a book will be around 30-40 there wouldn’t be anyone bothering to scan or type a 1000 pages on the internet for free.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:37 am
I must agree, knowledge is for everyone.
July 24th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Let knowledge be shared. We can not afford to pay tons of money for books so that publication houses make millions of money. This is no stealing. It’s about using the knowledge for the betterment of the world….
July 24th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
[…] to the web site UsedBooksBlog.com , the disappearance is in direct response to publishers taking issue with the site’s intent. […]
July 27th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Cry me a river. If I have to pay for the text to pass the course I don’t care.
July 27th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
While I am all for the sharing, I do think a few points should be made.
1. I cannot stand the argument that the basic knowledge has not changed in X years. For instance, the argument that chemistry has not changed in 100 years above. Yes, yes it has. Our understanding of even the basics certainly does change, shift, alter, and/or confirm over the years. Things that we think we know turn out to be wrong and must be corrected. Not only the knowledge, but the methods by which these ideas are presented change. It’s not only in science. Mathematics has had its own revolutions with things like New Math. Reading and Writing with the Phonics system. We are constantly changing and evolving both the material and the way by which we teach.
2. The authors are certainly entitled to compensation for their work.
3. Free distribution of books encourages book buying. It’s true. For instance, Baen Books offers a free library. Note that last word. Library. I can go and get a free copy of a book and borrow it and read it any damned time I like. I can photocopy it and keep it if I like from the library. Nobody is going to stop me. I’m not even sure if that’s illegal, so long as I don’t try to make a profit off of it. And I think that’s pretty fair. The truth is that most people are fairly honest. If I download a movie and I like it- I’ll buy the DVD. I am more willing to read an author I have never read if I don’t have to pay for the book. And if I like that author, I am more likely to buy his/her books. Because I recognize that I want to support the efforts of the things I like by paying for them. And again, I’m not trying to make a profit. If you bootleg a movie to watch at home or spread to others on the web, nobody is hurt. If you bootleg a movie and start selling it, then you are making money off of someone else’s work. Nobdoy’s getting hurt, but there are more honest ways to make a living.
It’s not black and white by any means. But I recommend people take a look at an article in today’s New York Times which talks about this.
Keep in mind that this also does help to keep books alive and in circulation. If there is a book which has been out of print for 20 years ro more and someone has put a copy of it online and I can’t find it in bookstores, why can’t I download it? Hell, a few years ago I went looking for a DVD copy of Blues Brothers, and it was out of print. I WANTED to buy a copy but couldn’t. What should I have done?
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t buy textbooks. I’m not even saying they should always be cheaper. I’m just saying that it’s not black and white.
July 28th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
[…] down…DMCA is kissing the ass of the capitalists at the expense of free education *grabs gun* Textbook Torrents | Used Books Blog for information on the war against idiocy. well your best bet is to torrent text books […]
July 29th, 2008 at 11:13 am
i have stolen textbooks out of a school bookstore before. it is only kinda hard to do. as far as torrents i the feeling of theft is never there. and also if the the admins of the site wanted to continue it, they would find an international site, such as one based in Sweden, UK, etc. because it is harder to pin a violation since the overseas laws differ from place to place and law enforcement agencies only put forth the effort to find a violation if it is requested by somebody important, ie the CEO of the publisher in this case.
and for those who think stealing a book is stealing, when you are down $150 bux from just ONE book that you only need for single quarter and sell back doesnt’ get you close to $20 bux, there has to be theft somewhere. $990 is a lot that can be saved for other things such as living expenses.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
“Do you have to pay for knowledge? Yes, if it requires others’ efforts and time like let’s say college’s tuition.” -spit_on_copyright
If you have to pay for knowledge, why is it that mathematical principles cannot be copyrighted? A lot of effort and time went into solving Fermat’s Last Theory. However, that person cannot copyright it anywhere in the world because it was decided a long time ago that mathematical principles could not be copyrighted.
It is interesting to note that even without copyright, mathematics has thrived. It kind of throws a big wrench into the ‘copyright as a carrot on a stick’ idea.
(Yes, I understand that you were not arguing against downloading the textbooks, but one must always strive to be accurate, logical, consistent, correct.)
July 30th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
they are up visit: http://85.17.226.223/
August 1st, 2008 at 6:04 pm
The whole “carrot on a stick” idea is defunct. Why is it that authors publish new edition of the same book, and just change a few insignificant things, such as the the cover and some of the problems? Was there anything wrong with the old ones? No. Then why do they do it? because if they release a new edition the old editions that are still in circulation are then worthless and force students to buy all new books, as they weren’t making any money from the used text books being recirculated.
The problem with professors just using the old editions, is that the old editions are not published anymore, and so as some books are lost or students don’t sell back their books (or can’t) the professor can’t garantee that your local university bookstore has enough books for the class. I have had text books get outdated by the ’sixteenth’ edition in single year, and why was it outdated? So that they could get paid for editing their old work and acting if it was brand new.
Is it wrong to not pay them for the work that they did? yeah…
Is it wrong to screw over the consumer just because they have to use their product? yeah…
August 3rd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
quite honestly.
this is like a robin hood deal if you think about it
seriously. college is MONEYMONEYMONEY LEFT AND EFFING RIGHT NO JOKE
20 dollars here
50 there
100 for this blah blah
all you people who whine it’s stealing, it’s hard enough to manage right now.
for someone going on scholarships any little bit of help is amazing.
i’d pay for them if i had a pile of money sitting around but i don’t.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:10 am
[…] A new argument has come up about textbook torrents, while many may be illegal, it may be a good way to obtain a digital copy of a textbook that you have already purchased. For more information on what textbook torrents are, see this article. […]
August 6th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I have heard nothing about Barnes and Nobles buying Borders. Is this really something in the making? We have both in our area and they are both incredible stores, that entice you to shop and buy.
September 21st, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Look I am sorry but no company has the right to charge 150-250$ for a book they are going to replace in at least 6 months with another edition that has like 3 extra pages or different order of the chapters. I support this 100%. We are college students trying to get through on next to no income and funds we aren’t rich snobs trying to keep up with the Jones by buying a new car every year. Why not hit a company that robs several people blind where it hurts in their wallets and ego.
October 6th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I love textbook torrents! I’m a poor college student and I have saved over $1200 this term.
I download these books and just read them on my laptop in class.
I have also personally scanned and uploaded 5 textbooks that unfortunately I had to purchase. That’s okay because I saved so much money…and now others can download my textbooks.
This site WILL SAVE students tons of money.
Students are poor as it is! I need all the help I can get.
October 14th, 2008 at 6:34 am
How is it stealing, if you never intended to purchase it in the first place?
October 18th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
This is coming from a former textbook manager at a college - I saw the inside scoop - we would wait for a textbook to be approved from the professor and hope that it would be the same as last semester’s version, so that we could have lots of used copies for the students (the bookstore makes more money from selling used copies than new) - then the publishers sales rep would sweep in, convince the professor that they needed to update or add to the textbook, making the older one obsolete. What needs to happen it there needs to be some regulation on when a textbook can be updated or added to, and not by the whim of a sales rep for a publisher trying to make more sales, because with the added material the price goes up, and the student has to buy a new copy. I have seen new editions revised because they added one sentence or one formula. I felt bad for the students and I tried my hardest to get the professors to keep the older text. I believe there are reasons for changing the text or format of a textbook, but there should be definite parameters. I think the students should voice their opinions to the Chancellors of their colleges and universities, and let them know that they should not be taken advantage of, so the publishers can make their money.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:28 pm
I think we’re debating the wrong thing here. No one seriously believes that people shouldn’t be paid for their work…that’s just ignorant. But many of us do believe that we’re being exploited. Even lawyers who stand for law or religious people who are ethically opposed to ’stealing’ ought to appreciate this kind of rebellion — after all, your institutions were all considered backward and unacceptable at one time until a few people challenged the establishment and helped create something better. So take it easy on the rest of us who think there’s a better business model out there.
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Well Even though the admin said has said Site is perm. down…i hope there is a chance that they will be back…it was really good site…pity…
October 24th, 2008 at 10:48 am
I’d be happier buying books if the money I spend were going to the authors and researchers that put a lot of time and effort on them.
Instead, most of it goes to companies. It’s the same with music industry.
Somehow, it seems to be the way these markets work, which makes me sad.
Of course free books would ultimately lead to less research (probably not so much in this area because authors know they’re not going to earn much from it, they don’t live upon that. they want simply to diffuse knowledge, at least a big part of them). the only way to get around that would be the authors themselves to make the books available online, but then they’d get nothing instead of very little. It’d kill even more the incentives to publish anything.
I only buy books on amazon. they have some great online sellers who sell NEW books much cheaper.
October 27th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I was a regular visitor and uploader at texbooktorrents.com.
It was the best torrent site I ever visited and I’m (was) proud to be a part of it.
The point here isn’t in stealing or anything else that drastic. Most of us, students, only need particular parts that can be found in many books, only a few pages usually… And do you need to buy 2 or more books that cost around 50 $ each at least for 10 pages!?
If you really like it you’ll probably buy it! That’s the whole logic here, nothing else…
But that doesn’t matter any more because textbooktorrents is gone for good, but now it’s not coming back like in summer. =(
October 28th, 2008 at 8:20 am
I was too late, and I didn’t get the chance to search for books in texbooktorrents.com
is there any chance that those books will be uploaded elsewhere?
October 28th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Well, I’m a bit reluctant to say this, as too much attention on some sites could be fatal for them, but since textbooktorrents went down, I discovered gigapedia.org, and I’ve got to say that it’s even better… it’s not using torrents but file hosting sites like RapidShare. it only requires a free and quick registration to get access to the download links. it’s just awesome.
October 28th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
@PMG:
Unfortunately no, they erased the whole database.
But you can find useful links to other book sites there…
Just visit:
www.textbooktorrents.com
November 7th, 2008 at 6:26 am
suck lows
TBT is the best, viva TBT
note that, BitMe is still working and offers a lot free books more than TBT, suck
November 9th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Companies (Edit) around world do abuse on the researches that produce knowlege… as many others said… the money goes for the company… Researches recived “citation” and so… they can find founds… but… the money is for the company. If you like some book, and you have the money, paid for it… not for ten or twenty pages… the entire book… Ok it’s fine… but please don’t say that every one have to paid for something, the price that some one behind a desktop (who is not researcher), wants to profit… the problem is very complex… but it is time to open our eyes, and realize that science and knowledge is not like novels… most people write because they love to share knowledge and need the publication of results… but the ones behind the desk… know that… and then… the high prices…
You find something NEW… you PAY for publication… and then THEY won money… for the knowledge you have discovered !!!! so WHAT IS THIS ??? OOOOH OF COURSE… some guys like DLB (DLB Says:
July 14th, 2008 at 7:41 am ) … IT IS LEGAL… of course… it is… they are making money with the knowledge found by others… just because they have the money to print…. so we have to pay… right !!! It`s sad when some people don´t realize that… some authors have papers for download from their personal web sites (because they have rights…). Do you think they are selling the papers??? NO, THEY DON`T… that’s because they don’t produce knowledge to won money… that´s the very escense of the books.
Best wishes and… rest in peace TBT…
Thanks for the knowlege you diffuse…
December 7th, 2008 at 12:30 am
What about online texts. There are a whole bunch at NCBI. Put pressure on your teachers to use free textbooks. No legal mess. If publisher’s can’t/won’t cut their costs, then outsource them.
December 11th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
How about uploading books into OFF or Freenet? They’re beta software and the transfers take forever, but the more propagated the files become, the easier they become to download. I’d rather spend 48 hours downloading than $1000 or more.
December 13th, 2008 at 11:30 am
www.gigapedia.org
They are 100 times better then even text book torrents.They have billions of ebooks all for free…
But you need to register to see links..
December 14th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Stealing takes the original.
Pirating makes a copy.
-Nick
January 1st, 2009 at 4:24 am
In countries like India there are people who could hardly pay fees to schools or colleges. And then comes the fees for books and note books. It makes a burden of approximately Rs.5000( Five thousands)
for a fourth standard student. Then for the uniforms, its Rs.2000-Rs.3000. Could you people see what a middle class father earning Rs.5000-Rs.7000 can give their children.
If we lend a book through hands, for example, if I’m studying in 5th standard and my sis is in 4th standard and in the same school, then I’ll give my previous year’s books to her.
IS IT STEALING?!
As the book lending is through Internet its fast and easy and reaches to the students worldwide.
This is not stealing or piracy. We are helping people and needy students all around the world.
Its like sharing.If a book is 50$ its Rs.2426.71(Indian rupees). So people see with your eyes the burden on each and every students’ shoulders.
For a BSc degree student in India, he/she is to face
*Donation - Rs.20000 - Rs.30000 (approx)- Donation is for 1st year only.
*Fees - Rs.45000 - Rs.60000 (approx)
*Books(only text books) - Rs.4000 - Rs.7000 (approx)- Depends on the course.
*Note books - Rs.5000 (approx)
Even after this you argue its stealing, then please burn each and every library in the whole world.
Do that please, because they are the forefathers for lending.
Sorry for my bad english. Its not my native language
January 1st, 2009 at 4:32 am
I whole heartedly agree to “Broklynite”.
January 1st, 2009 at 11:42 pm
[…] the demise of Textbook Torrents students have been looking for other ways to obtain free textbooks. Rapidshare textbooks may be […]
January 2nd, 2009 at 8:04 am
I posted this same thing on another page in this forum:
Copyright infringement is a crime - and many citizens of the world are therefore criminals, even those of us expatriates who reside in far-off lands and are bereft of Americana - the movies, the music, the educational documentaries, the software, and many other things. Yet, I ask myself, “Self, if you lived in America, you could walk into any major library and borrow the books, the videos, and the music. So really - what’s the “dif” if people create online libraries which basically achieve the same purpose?” And ultimately, the whole exercise is engineered to improve the human learning experience by providing access by greater numbers of people throughout the world. I ask again - “Is it so terrible to share a book or an educational documentary?” Can someone explain to me how it differs substantially from trekking to New York Public Library and checking out the material for two weeks to a month?
It’s kinda like in the music industry. In my view, file-swapping has improved music and live technology. Think about it, in the old days - before the creation of “corporate music” and “no-talent milli vanillis” bands had to tour to earn their keep. Guess what - bands have to tour again to earn their keep! And if the band is a “no-talent” or “one-hit” wonder through which the music company was ruthlessly exploiting the captive 10-15 year olds? Well, I daresay that a public crowd listening in a live forum will shut down the scam rather quickly (or the music companies will have to adopt better live-play technology to make their “coiffed-up, no-talent” showpieces sound a bit better). The public wins under both instances!
The corporate powers that are crying fowl over on-line public libraries (and that is basically what on-line sharing is) really should get with the program, adapt, and create business models to harness the power of the internet - rather than constantly trying to slow its users from self-edification!
Governments of the world! Do not make it a crime to borrow materials from the library! Such a thing is in the same league as burning books!
Dammit! Where do you guys think Bill Gates got Windows? He stole it from Apple (and tweaked it a little). And Apple - they stole/borrowed it from Xerox (Xerox corporate fogeys couldn’t figure out what to do with it). Where do you think American steel came from? Carnegie’s people stole the process from Britain… and etc…
January 2nd, 2009 at 8:11 am
Further to that - unlike Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, most of us who share things online are doing so for personal viewing and not for reverse engineering and resale!
For shame that MSFT lawyers re-wrote the rules of intellectual property after pulling off the greatest heist in human history!
January 2nd, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Stealing? Anyone college graduate who has had the ‘pleasure” of paying over $1000 a semester for a few books would have a better definition of what the word STEALING is.
January 5th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Good knows, that if it weren’t for torrents, poor people would always be poor, because they are being left out from much needed information on how to succeed. The old myth of “Hard Work” makes you rich is Bull “Waste”. Hard work and being informed lead to the freedom from poverty and a better standard of living. I was born poor, and my parents were very uninformed, I didn’t get my first computer until I was out of college, I found that even with a degree I was well behind fellow coworkers, who have had access to a computer since they were kids. I discovered torrents last year, and all I can say is thank God. I have access to information, software, books, etc. I never would be able to afford on my own. I have they keys to a better standard of living, I still have to work hard and study, but knowledge is power, and textbooks should be for priced sooooo high that people who want to better themselves can’t afford it. I’m thankful for torrents and the OpenSource movement, and when I can afford it, you bet I’m going to start donating so that others like me don’t have to stay ignorant for soooo long.
January 5th, 2009 at 11:48 am
I dislike the argument that because you choose to take a bunch of courses which would rack up your bull that it is the textbook company’s fault. Nonsense- nobody is forcing you to take the full course load. I have taken classes without the textbook- there is often a copy donated to the school library you can study from. So please don’t pull that crap. Especially since if you are paying thousands of dollars in tuition, it isn’t just the books that are ripping you off.
Understand, I don’t think its nice. But I think the argument is invalid. It is not the publishers fault you are taking so many classes. And the classical idea is to charge what the market will bear.
Now this leads in my mind to an interesting point. What the market will bear. See, if everybody were being charged hundreds of dollars for textbooks, then I could understand and it would be just tough luck. After all, textbooks have limited audiences, and publishers have a right to make a profit. And in any case if you want to argue “theft,” morals, what about bookstores which buy back textbooks and resell them for close to the origional value and pocket all that money again and again and again? Say a book is sold to a bookstore for $75. The bookstore marks up the price to $100. Then they sell it and make a small profit. They then buy it back at the end of the semester for lets be generous here- $50. They then re-sell it for $80. It is returned and re-sold for the same price. Net profit to publisher: $75. Net profit to Bookstore: $135. In reality, the bookstore generally marks up he book more and pays less for it but whatever.
The thing that genuinely gets to me is this. Publishers are artificially setting a high price. Why do I say this? Because international editions of textbooks will often cost around $20-$60. If they are selling the textbook for $20, and STILL getting what they must consider to be a reasonable profit off of them, then they could do the same here and they are just being greedy. I understand about charging what the market will bear. However, if you are going to play that game you have to be willing to accept that people will find other venues- that is, they will find a different market.
Look, if people could bootleg gasoline and download it, do you think they would pay as much as they do? Not too likely.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
I think a lot of people have been recruited into the thinking that intellectual property is a sound idea. in fact, the truth is, most people have been conditioned to think intellectual property is legitmate by people who can influence how you think. who can do that? the people with the money? who are the people with the money? the businesses that get money from the business of intellectual property.
thus, people who don’t believe in the concept of intellectual property can’t win in an argument when most people’s minds set after hearing a convincing argument from one side–the side of the people trying to push others into thinking “those people are STEALING from us.”
here’s the deal. most people take copies because they know they aren’t stealing anything. they are reproducing a copy of something which in reality can’t be posessed because its information. as someone said “a bunch of 0s and 1s.” the problem is, business became accustomed to profiting off of the printing press. now, technology has caught up, but business hasn’t. business wants to continue to sell you a loaf of bread for a million dollars when you are hungry and saying, “no, you are not allowed to use our recipe for bread. you must buy it from us.”
of course, people out there, honest people are working at what we take for free. no one is justifying taking something without paying back the people who made it. but who gets to set the prices? the guy in the cubicle who makes 50k a year or the guys around the stockholders meeting lighting cigars with burning 100 dollar bills? they are bitching because their profits are dwindling because of the rise of technology, not allowing them to fuck 10k/night hookers anymore.
so, both sides are right, but who is going to make a comprimise? paying 20 dollars for a CD is ridiculous when the artist only gets a very small percentage. the same goes with textbooks. its a way overvalued product.
people should just pay for what they think its worth–donate to the authors directly. if the people are too stingy, the authors obvioulsy wont go into that business anymore. supply and demand, pure and simple. if the public wants more of their product, obviously they will give money. Look at Wikipedia for crying out loud. its a free service, and yet they asked for 6 million dollars in donations from its users to keep the site running—AND THEY ARE GETTING IT without resorting to gimpy lawsuits and greediness like publishers, the motion picture industry and the record industry resorts to.
so dont hand us this flimsy argument that people are just taking and that those people need money. bullcrap. people have sense. they realize if they cant afford something that is in all accounts free, they will take it. and if they have money and its a good product they will reward the people who made the product. simple. this has been the case for centuries before business took over the printing press.
January 13th, 2009 at 6:48 am
If it wasn’t for free online books, I would not have had the textbooks I needed.
January 13th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Reason- on the whole I agree with you. But I’m not sure what you mean about “this has been the case for centuries before business took over the printing press.” Excluding mimeographs in people’s basements, the printing press was always a method of turn lead (type) into gold. I dislike the argument that it is just information and you can’t possess it, or about you can’t bake your own bread. I could see the argument of “Well if you don’t want to buy my book, you simply don’t have to read it. Write your own book” When I say this I mean for pleasure books not textbooks, that is. Nobody is denying anyone the right to write their own book, bake their own bread, etc. Yes, it has been broken down into the basic data. And I have always been a proponent of the Universal Library. But Arguing that it’s just 1’s and 0’s seems to trivialize the genuine work which has gone into it. A regular book can be said to simply be a collection of a’s, b’s, c’s, etc. And that will be factually correct. But the effort put into arranging those letters into something that anyone else would want should be rewarded.
Understand, I’m not disagreeing with most of what you are saying. It’s more that…mm…I think there needs to be a flexible viewpoint. Your point about the CDs for instance- I agree completely. It is unfair for a musician to make such a small percentage from the sale of their music. On the other hand, simply not paying for the CD does not give the artist any money. More reasonable would be if the artist themselves were to sell the CD for whatever price they wanted to sell it for and they would get most of the money (not all, because the studios DO deserve some of the money).
January 13th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Stealing is not piracy. Piracy is piracy.
No one stands to make profits off of sharing textbooks, music, and movies that are time and time again over-priced by corporate america. They use rhetorical methodologies like RIAA and MPAA which claim to have the interest of the artist(s) in mind but in reality they are only there to serve the interest of the people who make the most money in their respective industries.
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:30 am
Personally, I am all for Textbook Torrents. I used it once to see if I could find a digital copy of a textbook my freshman year of high school, so I could leave my printed textbook in the classroom and reduce the number of books I’d have to lug around every day. Although I didn’t find the textbook (some Biology text), I still was fascinated by the idea of textbooks - which in high school cost around $40-70 (or at least at my school) - being distributed digitally for free. It would be cheaper to buy a low-grade laptop with Adobe Reader and .pdf files of every textbook I’ll ever need than to pay for the increasing cost of textbooks, especially at the collegiate level (at the community college I’m looking at, the book costs more than the class in many cases).
What drives the cost of college-level texts, to the point of having to spend $100-200 or more for a necessary component of college education? Does paper, binding, a hard cover, ink, toner, and labor to put it all together really cost that amount? I would guess the production cost to be much less than even $100 - in fact, I would consider a book that costs $50 dollars to manufacture an expensive book. So where does all that extra money - you know, the $100-150 left over?
It’s all profit. Textbook manufacturers hold a rather monopolistic position. A handful of companies have full control over the asking price of any given textbook because, quite simply, nearly every student requires textbooks, and is assumed to be able to pay whatever money necessary to excel academically. So there is no ceiling for the price of textbooks, especially those from larger publishers.
A textbook publisher - I’ll use McGraw Hill (the publisher of all the math textbooks at my school aside from Calculus and Statistics) as an example here - could charge $75 for a book that may have cost $50 at most (including labor and/or cost of printing press and other machinery), thus raking in $25 of profit per book. From a 30 person Algebra 2 class in a typical high school, McGraw Hill will receive $750 in excess profit. There are probably 3 or 4 Algebra 2 classes, so that figures out to approximately $3,000 of profit just from 4 class sets. There are 9 high schools in my school district (Elk Grove Unified School District), all using the same exact textbooks; therefore, by selling merely class sets to an entire district, McGraw Hill now has gained $27,000 in profit. $27,000 that the State of California could use for purposes other than the mortgage on the McGraw Hill CEO’s estate. Not to mention how many school districts there are all over California, most of which are completely State funded. Just from 37 similarly-sized school districts, California would lose nearly $1,000,000 to the coffers of McGraw Hill.
So who is the real thief?
January 26th, 2009 at 8:14 am
No one.
Piracy isn’t stealing.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Textbooks themselves cost less than $10 to manufacture. However, the author also needs money for the effort. Imagine trying to write a 500 page book. It is a daunting task. For that the authors deserve the money their book earns.
In addition, the law (in the US) allows for 1 electronic copy of a book per every hard copy owned. I personally buy the book and download the torrent of the book since I prefer the electronic copy.
January 28th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
@Ryan:
You make great points. McGraw Hill is a ripoff publishing company. They create mass poverty in the public schools by charging so much for their books. I don’t think $125-200 is a fair price for ANY textbook.
I’m a nursing student where each book is $150 or more. Some of my books were $250 each making my bill for each term roughly $1200. That is a HUGE expense for a college student.
Thankfully I was able to cut down that price roughly 40% because I was able to find textbook torrents of the books I needed. Textbook torrents are the future for college students. Nobody can afford the crazy prices for books in this economy.
Honestly I don’t believe copying zeros and ones is piracy. And even if you convinced me it was I’d still pirate textbooks (& music movies and games) because fuck, I need a few free things in life. It already costs so much to live.
Between the $750 rent + utilities a month, car expenses, college bills, food, students like myself simply don’t have extra money to be throwing around for textbooks.
End of rant!
February 2nd, 2009 at 9:50 am
That sounds like great advice. I’d also recommend that instead of buying new student books, you go to Liverpool Student Books and look for used ones instead. I’ve used them before as they are pretty cheap and charge no commission!
Hope that helps!
February 17th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Stealing, if it is for good cause then it is forbidden, so we may say it is sharing, which is good, the fact is these sharing hampers the business of publisher , well then 2 things bring down the price or charge a membership for preview for online reading. no copy or print technology allowed
February 18th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Maybe we can start some kind of digital textbook “sharing” community, centered around a forum or mailing list for requests for digital copies of textbooks. If a member of this online community happens to have a copy, it’ll be sent to the member who requested it (whether via email or by providing a .torrent file). There can also be a homepage (with the forum or whatever) with a donation link; donations will first go to site maintenance, then the rest to textbook authors (note I said authors, not publishers).
This community would be relieving students of the burden of paying for textbooks (especially in this economy) while simultaneously contributing to the authors, who really deserve the money (and probably need it).
February 25th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Fuck publishers. Fuck the RIAA. Fuck the MPAA.
Pirate the world.
Fuck you for paying $200 for a book. You should have pirated it like me and sent the publishing industry a clear notice that we’re not going to pay these ridiculous fees for books that essentially the SAME THING ACROSS EDITIONS.
February 25th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Ryan- I’m cool with that. You wanna set it up, I’ll put my own in.
March 4th, 2009 at 2:27 am
If the publishers can get together to ban textbook torrent downloading, I believe we can get together to reduce textbook prices and make education affordable! There are a couple of campaigns working against ” expensive textbooks”…
March 14th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
simple lesson in stealing.
stealing REMOVES the original object in question.
copying does NOT remove the original, it makes a copy, thereby leaving the original object with the owner.
sharing textbooks is not stealing.
March 21st, 2009 at 11:27 am
how about if writers published their first edition for a price and the new revisions for free
March 24th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
This is right here, in the present, not the future.
March 24th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
How the hell are people still writing to this damned thing?
I’ll say this. Once molecular fabrication really hits its stride, we’re all going to look back on all of this and laugh our asses off.
May 5th, 2009 at 11:21 am
upload torrents on thepiratebay and we’ll all be happier
May 16th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
yay for thepiratebay xD