New Bill Proposes Open Source Requirement for Publicly Funded Books

fsufitch writes "On September 30th, the 'Open College Textbook Act of 2009' was introduced to the Senate and referred to committee. The bill proposes that all educational materials published or produced using federal funds need to be published under open licenses. The reasoning behind it takes into account the changing way information is distributed because of the Internet, the high price of college and textbooks, and the dangerously low college graduation rates in the US. Will a bill such as this endanger publishing companies in the same way Internet journalism endangers traditional journalism?"

Comments

If college graduation rates are so low ...

[TheABomb]

... wouldn't their advanced education put the few and far between college grads at the forefront of our already-too-tight job market? (I better hit "submit" before my boss catches me and I lose my minimum-wage temp job.)

Re:Seems fair to me.

[huckda]

this should include ALL HARDWARE/SOFTWARE IP as well!!

Re:Seems fair to me.

[slinches]

or the taxpayers get to keep more of their own money

Re:Seems fair to me.

[PCM2]

This is the best type of bill: one that's put forward because someone sees that something being done now could be done in a better way. But publishers have lobbyists and cash, and those always trump the public interest in the US House of Representatives.

Not to mention the fact that the people who put the bill forward still get to say "we tried," even if they never expected it to pass in the first place. But maybe I'm cynical.