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Barnes & Noble at RIT is required by law to make changes to its website to display International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN) by July 1st—50 days from now.

In August of 2008, the “Higher Education Opportunity Act” (HEOA) [PDF] was passed and became public law. Section 133 of the act requires institutions to provide specific information about textbooks for its courses—in online or printed form.

The law was passed back in August of 2008, and congress hopes colleges will make the changes before then, but it appears Barnes & Noble will wait until the last minute.

With the large number of textbooks and different editions, Barnes & Noble’s lack of properly displaying full book titles and author names makes it a bit harder for students to find the book through alternative sellers.

BookMaid contacted Barnes & Noble over a year ago, and they had no intention to publish ISBNs until they were “legally obligated to.” Since then, it was learned that Barnes & Noble is required to. Last August, Barnes & Noble’s manager said the changes were under way.

The bookstore opened 10 months ago and may now be closing. Photo via The Eggplant

RIT’s bookstore announced today that they are seeking a financial bailout. Sales reached an all time low this quarter and are predicted to be even lower next year. BookMaid.com will become official named RIT’s bookstore if the bookstore reaches bankruptcy.

The bookstore asked for a financial bailout 2 weeks ago, which was denied by RIT’s President Destler. He warned the bookstore that they can’t depend on an “unending” stream of students’ tuition dollars. Destler threatens that if the bookstore does not restructure, they maybe forced to file bankruptcy.

“We cannot, we must not, and we will not let our books simply vanish,” says Destler, stressing the importance of a textbook resource. He has pre-approved BookMaid.com as the bookstore’s replacement if it does not meet the President’s requirements.

“Everyone’s in an economic situation,” says a bookstore representative, “and RIT students aren’t willing to give us their money.” He claims that the students are being too cautious about their spendings. “We have a commitment to rip students off, and we’re having trouble meeting that commitment.” He also explained that Winter Quarter’s book sales were alarmingly low. BookMaid.com on the other hand, has been spiking with sales.

The RIT community has been hoping for the fall of the bookstore. Lauren Parsons, an RIT economics professor and Stanford graduate is certain that the bookstore is nearing it’s final days. “The RIT bookstore won’t be able to survive another quarter” she explains, “The prices are ridiculous.” She has directed all her students to use BookMaid.com to purchase the textbooks for her courses.

“I’ve bought many books on BookMaid” says Kelly Jefferson, a cashier at the bookstore, “We run out of books sometimes - and it’s the only place we can go to restock quickly.”

Students are anxious to hear the results of this economical situation. “This quarter I paid $634 for four books.” says Jason Miller, a third year mechanical engineering student, “And one of them couldn’t have been thicker than a magazine! Six hundred dollars for four books!? For realz?!”

Happy April 1st Everyone!

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BookMaid has been down for an extended period of time. I appologize for this. BookMaid has switched to MediaTemple to provide its web hosting. This is an change that had to happen. Since the switch, users will have a faster, safer, and more relaible experience.

During the downtime, I began speeding up the book category system. Unfortunately, it took longer than expeted.

If you experience any bugs, please be sure to contact BookMaid.

RIT’s new president, William Destler, has reviewed BookMaid.com and the legal issues regarding it. He’s decided to turn around this situation. He asked Mary Beth Cooper to call me (Dan Leveille). We discussed the following:

• Robert Colon (Cheif Legal Officer) will not file the $1,500 - $5,000 complaint against Ritbook.com.
• BookMaid.com will be granted a royalty-free license to the RIT trade name for the 2007-2008 academic year. This license is for advertising and for use on BookMaid.com, specifically to inform about the name change.
• I will be able to redirect Ritbook.com to BookMaid.com for the 2007-2008 academic year.
• Robert Colon, who has neglected to answer many of the questions I asked, will email me about my concerns.

Ritbook.com has officially closed.
BookMaid.com has been revealed.

Bookmaid will be an exciting new website very similar to Ritbook - the same general idea with more features and a sexy new look.

The site is planned to be open this Fall.

My response to RIT filing an expensive ICANN complaint

Mr. Colon,

To start off, I would like to clarify that I am carbon copying this email to Mary Beth Cooper because she was originally supposed to be carbon copied into any emails between you and I, which you failed to do. I want to ensure that Dr. Cooper is aware of everything between us, because, to my knowledge, you were the one who made the decision to send the original (inappropriate) cease and desist letter to me. I also carbon copied Dr. Destler into this email, because I feel this is an important matter of his concern.

Mr. Colon, I am very upset that you will file a complaint with ICANN. I understand that the pricing for a UDRP complaint is around $1500 to $5000. (Our tuition dollars at work!) This is a senseless action for RIT to do. I’m sure the RIT community will be outraged if you decide to take this action. I can assure you that if this is your decision, the media will love this story. I’ve been on WHAM 13 News once about this issue, and the reporter wants me to keep him updated. RIT’s Reporter magazine is also interested in writing articles in addition to the two they have already written.

I can be assured that once ICANN opens this case, it will be quickly terminated, seeing how foolish it is. Because there is no trademark infringement remotely involved, I will be extending the registration of www.ritbook.com again this December, so that I can continue its sole purpose to redirect potential customers to the new site, bookmaid.com. As we discussed, this new site will be clearly unaffiliated with RIT. RIT’s paying thousands of dollars to prevent this redirection?

Mr Colon, I emailed Mary Beth Cooper on June 13, 2007 4:27 PM. She forwarded this email to you, yet you have neglected to address any of my concerns, and instead threatening to file a proceeding against me. I suggest that as a representative of RIT, you should take the time to address my concerns. Unfortunately, you are the only individual able to address legal affairs.

I am looking forward to an email from you regarding the matters I raised. That email can be found threaded below in the conversation.

Sincerely,
Dan Leveille

Well, RIT has decided that they will be filing a complaint with ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). This will cost RIT between $1500 and $5000 - our tuition dollars at work! Here’s the letter I recieved:

View my response

I replied to RIT’s “Final Demands,” and sent it to Mary Beth Cooper, Vice President of Student Affairs at RIT emailed me and asked what my thoughts were on the “Final Demands.” Here is my reply:

RIT’s “Final Demands”

The Phone Game

Short Term Requirements

We’re Getting The Media Involved

I am meeting with the following organizations to discuss ritbook and the issue with RIT.

• RIT’s Reporter Magazine
• ABC News - Rochester WHAM13
• The Democrat & Chronicle

Want to help publicize? Feel free to contact the media about this issue. Tell them they can contact me (drl4193@rit.edu) for any additional information.