Slashdot Mirror
Congress Pushing Open Access for Government-Funded Research
jefu writes "According to this article from UPI Congress may be moving toward mandating 'Open Access' to the public for scientific papers. This move is prompted by the high prices scientific journals often charge for subscriptions and for reprints -- even when the papers were funded by government grants. The publishers and societies are opposed to the idea as it seems likely to cut into their financial base. This is an interesting move by politicians who usually find laws that make things more expensive for consumers all too attractive."
is the government pushing for this? Why is it in their interest? Surely it would be in the government's interest to have a poorly informed public, and have information available only to the few (the rich).
The kicker is this: we're not only paying for the articles, but also for all of the ads that we have to sift through. This seems like a win-win situation for someone who wants to read scientific articles, but it also sounds like it will hurt more than just the societies and the publishers. It might put several of my favorite magazines out of business. I also wonder how easily accessible these articles will be.
How does one prevent other nations from benefitting from this information? Passport sign-in security? Don't make me laugh.
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If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
Anyone who wasn't born in the same country as I was should be ground up in an industrial grinder. Their body fat should be rendered into deisel fuel for my SUV. The water in their body should be used for crop irrigation. Finally, any remaining by-products should be processed into animal feed.
This way, we won't have to worry about non-white people benefitting from our research.