"They have no choice but to see it as an enemy.'' That's incorrect. They could fight fire with fire, so to speak, by putting their textbooks on line by subscription, and since there would be no printing and distribution costs, the online versions could be considerably less expensive. Unfortunately, they want things to remain the way they've always been, but they won't.

Hopefully the law will support the publishers. Digital technology is in the process of eliminating profits for vast portions of what is called intellectual property. This will eventually push people away from creating anything that can be pirated digitally. To think that you can fight fire with fire is extremely short-sighted. Society has yet to catch up to the ethical and moral challenges brought about by the effortless piracy afforded by pixels. Greed, self interest, and ignorance will continue to erode our most valuable creations if the law is unable to define and enforce adequate limits.

Copyright law is another issue. Once copyrights were for 14 years, with the possibility of renewal for another 14. Over recent decades copyrights have been extended to the point of ridiculousness -- 100 years -- or possibly much longer now that the Supreme Court has decided that corporations are "persons." That shouldn't be, but publishers are like most large businesses: they know how to buy Congress.