Afterdawn News reports that TTVK, a Finnish national copyright lobby, is threatening a book rental service called Bookabooka for allegedly running a 'Pirate Bay for Books'. No, Bookabooka doesn't host any e-books on its site, or provide online access to books. What it does is offer a service where students can "rent" their (traditional) textbooks to their peers. Renting is done through the mail and it is mandatory that the textbooks are originals (not xeroxed copies). Bookabooka acts as an intermediary, connecting the students - it doesn't handle the shipping or returns of the textbooks. Nevertheless, the Finnish book publishers' association (Suomen Kustannusyhdistys) is convinced the service is breaching copyright laws and threatening their business. TTVK has given Bookabooka until Friday to cease operations or face a lawsuit. Bookabooka's founders have vowed to keep the service online and ignore the threat.
hat tip: Slashdot
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