No Utopia For NoteUtopia

NoteUtopia, a start up company in Sacramento recently had its dreams dashed by the California State University chancellor’s office. NoteUtopia is an eBay like service that allows college students to buy and sell study materials, including class notes. The chancellor recently issued an order requiring NoteUtopia to “cease and desist” [aka “stop”] selling class notes on its service. The chancellor cited a provision in the California state education code that prohibits any “commercial use” of “academic presentations” including handwritten class notes. The NoteUtopia folks were a bit surprised, considering that several California universities accepted a $500 per day fee from NoteUtopia to set up informational booths touting their services. So, in short, the situation is this. The colleges will no doubt raise tuition every year, while simultaneously shutting down a budding entrepreneur’s creative plan to make a few bucks. Great.