Students at Princeton University, the University of Utah and eight other colleges, will be able to purchase many of their school text books in a digital format, in addition to the normal hard copy versions.

Digital books will include, Dante's "Inferno" and "Essentials of Psychology," and will be offered at 33 percent off.

However, according to ZDNet, the new digital textbook program imposes strict guidelines on how the books can be used, including locking the downloaded books to a single computer and setting a five-month expiration date, after which the book can't be read.

"We don't know yet how people will react," said Virginia France, the marketing director at the Princeton University Store. "It is something that will evolve over time. But it is the first program like it that involves the stores, so naturally we think that's a good idea."

According to ZDNet, the new program is among the most far-reaching moves toward digital publishing made in the academic environment to date, and could prove to be a significant test of the kinds of trade-offs students are willing to make in order to access the conveniences of digital texts.