From: Sean Andrews <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:50:48 -0600

Just because brief is tightly argued, it isn't necessarily competent
or coherent. What is funny is that they are basically trying to shut
down a public conversation. Trying to silence him with lawsuits is a
cowardly way to address his arguments - especially when the publishers
in question supposedly value openness.

Whatever the terms of the debate, Beall has a public criteria for how
he is making his determination, an open process that can be openly
debated.

If they don't agree with his criteria, they should join together in
addressing them: I'm sure there are plenty of people who would find
their views interesting and convincing. Whether it results in a suit
or not, this is a terrible way to handle this conflict. Their reaction
actually does a great deal more to support the validity of his claims
than any terminology he chose to use on his website.

Very unfortunate.

Thanks for passing this along,
Sean


On Fri, Feb 15, 2013 at 1:41 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> From: Rick Anderson <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:59:39 +0000
>
> My initial impression (and I'm no lawyer) is that the folks suing Jeff
> have a stronger footing for their complaint than Edwin Mellen Press does
> in its suit against Dale Askey and McMaster University. By saying that, I
> don't mean to be critical of Jeff -- I think that by serving as a watchdog
> of unscrupulous OA publishers he's doing the scholpub world a favor. But I
> think the use of terms like "criminal" and "misconduct" on his blog may
> edge closer to the line of libel or defamation than Dale's posting did.
>
> In this case, Jeff is also less fortunate than Dale in his enemies.
> Whereas EMP's complaint against Dale is rife with incoherent arguments and
> silly quibbling over matters of opinion and interpretation (such as what
> constitutes a "quality" binding), CCSE's complaint against Jeff strikes me
> as much more tightly and competently argued. This isn't to say that it's
> correct, only that it's less easy to dismiss out of hand.
>
> That's just my $.02. I wish both Jeff and Dale all the best in defending
> themselves against these attacks.
>
> ---
> Rick Anderson
> Interim Dean, J. Willard Marriott Library
> University of Utah
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> On 2/14/13 1:56 PM, "LIBLICENSE" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> >From: Bill Cohen <[log in to unmask]>
> >Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:25:55 -0500
> >
> >See:  Beall Letter.pdf(6.3 MB)YouSendIt
> >
> >http://www.yousendit.com/download/UW13SU5OUnF0TW5FdzhUQw
> >
> >
> >Comments?  Bill