From: Subbiah Arunachalam <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2016 21:41:17 +0530

Friends:

"Do we as librarians really believe that large-scale copyright
infringement is a good thing, that it's right, and a means to a better
future?"

A good question. It will have many answers depending on the
circumstances of the individuals. Let me ask "Do we as scientists/
librarians / citizens/ taxpayers really believe that it is a good
thing for the world to allow journal publishers to continue to charge
exorbitant prices for subscriptions, reprints, permission for using
one's own figures and tables in a subsequent work, etc. and report
profits of upwards of 35% year after year?"

In some ways Aaron Swartz and Alexandra Elbakyan are following the
example set by Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King.
What Jean-Claude has referred to as civil disobedience. They deserve
to be looked up as Good Samaritans doing public good. If anything is
needed, we need to change the copyright laws. Copyright to research
papers must rightfully be decided by the authors.

Arun
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4398-4658
http://www.researcherid.com/rid/B-9925-2009