Books for everyone?

     In "Spreading the Digital Word," Radhika Kaushik describes new technology that allows us to cheaply print books that are in the public domain.    The Bookmobile is a van with a printer, book binding machine and a satellite dish; it has been traveling around the United States, allowing people from all over to choose from 20,000 books that sell for only one dollar each.  Technology like the Bookmobile is being implemented in other countries, including India and China, as well.    This concept has some obvious possible benefits.  It could increase access to books, worldwide.    It would also allow more writers to publish their books.    A publishing company would no longer be necessary in order to get a book out to the public.  Still, in order for this technology to succeed, the public domain would have to greatly expand. While Kaushik seems to advocate an expansion of the public domain, she does not address some critical issues, in this article.      

     One of the main reasons that Kaushik cites for the importance of the Bookmobile is the survivability of the works.  Disasters have caused us to lose many important works in the past.   Technology allows us the possibility of preserving our written works for the future.  While technology clearly gives us the opportunity to save many important works, and protect them from things like floods and fires, Kaushik does not clearly tie the need to preserve our books to the need to limit copyrights and expand the public domain. Is it necessary to increase the public domain in order to digitize and preserve our works?  Technology gives us the opportunity to save our writing for future generations, even if we do not allow public access to all of these works.

    Copyrights are meant to protect authors and their publishing companies. They are an extension of capitalism and the desire to maintain private property.   Most people who write a book want to maintain some control over it and how it is distributed, whether it is through a publishing company or some other means. It seems fair to give an author rights, in regard to her books. Since Kaushik does not address the benefits of copyrights and simply asserts that the public domain is a good thing, her argument is weaker.    The Bookmobile does seem like a good idea, in terms of distribution and greater opportunities for writers, but Kaushik never shows that limits on copyrights are necessarily a good thing.



Kaushik, Radhika. "Spreading the Digital Word." Extreme Tech.   April 29, 2003. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,1047454,00.asp