This book will self-destruct...

I chuckle whenever I see an organization try to create artificial scarcity, particularly when their business model is threatened by the digital age.

As of March 7, HarperCollins e-book titles licensed to Canadian schools and public libraries come with a new restriction: after 26 checkouts, they self-destruct.

Dan Misener has a whole article on the topic in his CBC column. Apparently, they figured that most books in the library only last through 26 checkouts. Seems a little self-serving to me.

Anyways, instead of trying to work with the new digital model to distribute their information more widely than ever, they're making a last ditch grasp at trying to squeeze some more money out of outdated business model. Not to mention squeezing it out of publicly funded libraries. Stupid move, in my book. Someone needs to sick Seth Godin on these guys. He'll set them straight.