California just passed a law that requires textbook publishers to provide e-book versions of all college textbooks by 2020. Here’s the relevant passage from California State Senate Bill 48:
This bill would require that publishers of textbooks offered for sale at a public or a private postsecondary institution of education make the textbooks available, in whole or in part, to the extent practicable, in an electronic format by January 1, 2020. The bill would require that electronic versions of textbooks include the same content as the printed versions and would allow the electronic versions to be copy-protected.
College textbook publishers already provide the majority of their textbooks as e-books because it is in their economic interest to do so — currently 8600 of the approximately 13,000 textbooks. And I wrote last week about how students already have many college textbook options that can save them money.
We don’t know what technology innovations will occur over the next decade. We need to provide the best learning tools for college students, and textbook publishers will continue to be an important part of that process.
I don’t think governments should be telling companies what products they have to provide and in what form unless there is an overriding public interest to do so, and I don’t see that here.
Your thoughts?
