Not long ago, I proposed pirating the Saudi-censored book "Alms for Jihad," and a very helpful comment discussion ensued.

I've now learned that the authors are hoping to republish the book in the United States:

These sorts of measures [locking up the copies in libraries' rare book collections] may eventually be less necessary, because the authors hope to republish Alms for Jihad in the U.S. Co-author Robert O. Collins, a professor at University of California Santa Barbara, told LJ that he and co-author J. Millard Burr, a former state department employee, are currently negotiating with CUP for a rights reversion. The authors have had several offers from U.S. publishers.

"We stand by what we wrote and refused to be a party to the settlement," Collins said. "As soon as CUP received notice, they decided to settle as rapidly as possible despite our vigorous defense. CUP did not want to embark on a long and expensive suit which they could not win under English libel law." Indeed, libel laws in England are far more favorable to plaintiffs than those in the U.S.

Collins said he is confident Alms for Jihad will be republished in the U.S., where Mahfouz's charges would have little chance of succeeding in court. "In reality, the few passages referring to Mahfouz are trivial when compared to the enormous amount of information in the book that is in demand," Collins noted, adding that he has received calls from booksellers offering as much as $500 for copies.

I'm on the "Alms for Jihad" Yahoo group, and just received an email confirming that thanks to the author's efforts, they are suspending their efforts to preserve and distribute the book:

Robert O. Collins reports that he has obtained the rights to the book from UCP, and is in negotiations with US publishers to reprint the book. Therefor, our efforts to preserve and distribute the book will be suspended.