Dear FISers fyi - Bob
> Begin forwarded message: > > > >> http://www.sciencealert.com/this-woman-has-illegally-uploaded-millions-of-journal-articles-in-an-attempt-to-open-up-science >> >> <http://www.sciencealert.com/this-woman-has-illegally-uploaded-millions-of-journal-articles-in-an-attempt-to-open-up-science> >> >> Researcher illegally shares millions of science papers free online to spread >> knowledge >> Welcome to the Pirate Bay of science. >> FIONA MACDONALD12 FEB 2016 >> A researcher in Russia has made more than 48 million journal articles - >> almost every single peer-reviewed paper every published - freely available >> online. And she's now refusing to shut the site down >> <http://bigthink.com/neurobonkers/a-pirate-bay-for-science>, despite a court >> injunction and a lawsuit from Elsevier, one of the world's biggest >> publishers. >> >> For those of you who aren't already using it, the site in question is >> Sci-Hub <http://sci-hub.io/>, and it's sort of like a Pirate Bay of the >> science world. It was established in 2011 by neuroscientist Alexandra >> Elbakyan, who was frustrated that she couldn't afford to access the articles >> needed for her research, and it's since gone viral, with hundreds of >> thousands of papers being downloaded daily. But at the end of last year, the >> site was ordered to be taken down by a New York district court >> <http://www.nature.com/news/pirate-research-paper-sites-play-hide-and-seek-with-publishers-1.18876> >> - a ruling that Elbakyan has decided to fight, triggering a debate over who >> really owns science. >> >> "Payment of $32 is just insane when you need to skim or read tens or >> hundreds of these papers to do research. I obtained these papers by pirating >> them,"Elbakyan told Torrent Freak last year >> <https://torrentfreak.com/science-pirate-attacks-elseviers-copyright-monopoly-in-court-150916/>. >> "Everyone should have access to knowledge regardless of their income or >> affiliation. And that’s absolutely legal." >> >> If it sounds like a modern day Robin Hood struggle, that's because it kinda >> is. But in this story, it's not just the poor who don't have access to >> scientific papers - journal subscriptions have become so expensive that >> leading universities such as Harvard >> <https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/apr/24/harvard-university-journal-publishers-prices> >> and Cornell >> <http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v426/n6964/full/426217a.html> have >> admitted they can no longer afford them. Researchers have also taken a stand >> - with 15,000 scientists vowing to boycott publisher Elsevier >> <http://thecostofknowledge.com/> in part for its excessive paywall fees. >> >> Don't get us wrong, journal publishers have also done a whole lot of good - >> they've encouraged better research thanks to peer review, and before the >> Internet, they were crucial to the dissemination of knowledge. >> >> But in recent years, more and more people are beginning to question whether >> they're still helping the progress of science. In fact, in some cases, the >> 'publish or perish' mentality >> <http://www.sciencealert.com/journal-accepts-paper-titled-get-me-off-your-f-cking-mailing-list> >> is creating more problems than solutions, with a growing number of >> predatory publishers now charging researchers to have their work published - >> often without any proper peer review process or even editing >> <http://www.sciencealert.com/two-scientific-journals-have-accepted-a-study-by-maggie-simpson-and-edna-krabappel>. >> >> "They feel pressured to do this," Elbakyan wrote in an open letter to the >> New York judge last year >> <https://torrentfreak.com/images/sci-hub-reply.pdf>. "If a researcher wants >> to be recognised, make a career - he or she needs to have publications in >> such journals." >> >> That's where Sci-Hub comes into the picture. The site works in two stages. >> First of all when you search for a paper, Sci-Hub tries to immediately >> download it from fellow pirate database LibGen >> <https://sites.google.com/site/themetalibrary/library-genesis>. If that >> doesn't work, Sci-Hub is able to bypass journal paywalls thanks to a range >> of access keys that have been donated by anonymous academics (thank you, >> science spies). >> >> This means that Sci-Hub can instantly access any paper published by the big >> guys, including JSTOR, Springer, Sage, and Elsevier, and deliver it to you >> for free within seconds. The site then automatically sends a copy of that >> paper to LibGen, to help share the love. >> >> It's an ingenious system, as Simon Oxenham explains for Big Think >> <http://bigthink.com/neurobonkers/a-pirate-bay-for-science>: >> >> "In one fell swoop, a network has been created that likely has a greater >> level of access to science than any individual university, or even >> government for that matter, anywhere in the world. Sci-Hub >> represents the sum of countless different universities' institutional access >> - literally a world of knowledge." >> >> That's all well and good for us users, but understandably, the big >> publishers are pissed off. Last year, a New York court delivered an >> injunction against Sci-Hub >> <http://www.nature.com/news/pirate-research-paper-sites-play-hide-and-seek-with-publishers-1.18876>, >> making its domain unavailable (something Elbakyan dodged by switching to a >> new location <http://sci-hub.io/>), and the site is also being sued by >> Elsevier for "irreparable harm" - a case that experts are predicting will >> win Elsevier <http://bigthink.com/neurobonkers/a-pirate-bay-for-science> >> around $750 to $150,000 for each pirated article. Even at the lowest >> estimations, that would quickly add up to millions in damages. >> >> But Elbakyan is not only standing her ground, she's come out swinging, >> claiming that it's Elsevier that have the illegal business model. >> >> "I think Elsevier’s business model is itself illegal," she told Torrent >> Freak, >> <https://torrentfreak.com/sci-hub-tears-down-academias-illegal-copyright-paywalls-150627/>referring >> to article 27 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, which states that >> <http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html>"everyone >> has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, >> to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits". >> >> She also explains that the academic publishing situation is different to the >> music or film industry, where pirating is ripping off creators. "All papers >> on their website are written by researchers, and researchers do not receive >> money from what Elsevier collects. That is very different from the music or >> movie industry, where creators receive money from each copy sold," she said. >> <https://torrentfreak.com/images/sci-hub-reply.pdf> >> Elbakyan hopes that the lawsuit will set a precedent, and make it very clear >> to the scientific world either way who owns their ideas. >> >> "If Elsevier manages to shut down our projects or force them into the >> darknet, that will demonstrate an important idea: that the public does not >> have the right to knowledge," she said. >> <https://torrentfreak.com/sci-hub-tears-down-academias-illegal-copyright-paywalls-150627/> >> "We have to win over Elsevier and other publishers and show that what these >> commercial companies are doing is fundamentally wrong." >> >> To be fair, Elbakyan is somewhat protected by the fact that she's in Russia >> <http://www.nature.com/news/pirate-research-paper-sites-play-hide-and-seek-with-publishers-1.18876> >> and doesn't have any US assets, so even if Elsevier wins their lawsuit, >> it's going to be pretty hard for them to get the money. >> >> Still, it's a bold move, and we're pretty interested to see how this fight >> turns out - because if there's one thing the world needs more of, it's >> scientific knowledge. In the meantime, Sci-Hub is still up and accessible >> <http://sci-hub.io/> for anyone who wants to use it, and Elbakyan has no >> plans to change that anytime soon. >> ______________________ Robert K. Logan Prof. Emeritus - Physics - U. of Toronto Fellow University of St. Michael's College Chief Scientist - sLab at OCAD http://utoronto.academia.edu/RobertKLogan www.physics.utoronto.ca/Members/logan www.researchgate.net/profile/Robert_Logan5/publications
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