From: Heather Morrison <[log in to unmask]> Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:38:39 -0800 Although this is textbooks rather than scholarly works, this is an important development that scholars, educators, and university administrators need to be aware of. McGraw Hill, one of the world's top textbook publishers, was just sold for $2.5 billion to Apollo Global Management, according to Inside Higher Ed. Debra Borchardt, in The Street, describes Apollo Global Management as a private equity firm that "gives Wall Street a bad name. And that's saying something". http://www.thestreet.com/story/11730510/1/the-dimming-lights-of-apollo-global.html From Inside Higher Ed: "Waterhouse said that the company would continue to expand in digital education, and that - as a private company - "we won't need to worry about short-term focus and pressures". http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/11/27/mcgraw-hill-education-sold-25-billion# Comment: a Wall Street bad apple expanding into higher education is something we should be watching - and take note of the long term focus. A company like this might well go into open education in the short term, planning to reap big profits from their $2.5 billion investment in the long term. Faculty and teachers: DO NOT GIVE AWAY YOUR WORK FOR COMMERCIAL RIGHTS. If you are using CC licenses, use Noncommercial. Discussion welcome. Heather G. Morrison, PhD Simon Fraser University School of Communication The Imaginary Journal of Poetic Economics http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.ca/