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Sci-Hub, a Site With Open and Pirated Scientific Papers

Posted by timothy on from the advancement-of-the-arts-and-sciences dept.

lpress writes: Sci-Hub is a Russian site that seeks to remove barriers to science by providing access to pirated copies of scientific papers. It was established in 2011 by Russian neuroscientist Alexandra Elbakyan, who could not afford papers she needed for her research and it now claims to have links to 48 million pirated and open papers. I tried it out and found some papers and not others, but it provides an alternative for researchers who cannot afford access to paid journals. After visiting this site, one cannot help thinking of the case of Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide as a result of prosecution for his attempt to free scientific literature.

2 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Entitled by rdwulfe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The problem with your straw-man is that MOST of the research referenced is often done on the public dime, then hidden away behind pay walls instead of given to the general public, who as stated, paid for it.

  2. Re:At least the summary is realistic about Swartz. by nbauman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    they twist it into "the state" or "the prosecutor" somehow being responsible for what Swartz voluntarily to himself

    A prosecutor has the power to really fuck up somebody's life. A criminal defense costs so much that families mortgage their homes -- just to stay out of jail. The defendant has this threat hanging over them for years.

    And a prosecutor has complete discretion about whether or not to bring a case. Sometimes they weasel out of it by saying, "I'm simply following the law." Sometimes they admit it and say, "I'm using the law creatively."

    America, as you've probably heard, has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and arguably the most punitive "tough on sentencing" system. We send people to jail for 10 and 20 years for minor crimes that used to be misdemeanors before the war on crime.

    This is one you can blame on the Democrats and Republicans. Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both led the country in tough-on-crime rhetoric, although most incarceration is on the state level.

    So yeah, if the cops arrest someone for some bullshit like making a turn without signaling far enough in advance, and the prosecutor decides to prosecute that person for it, and the person gets so depressed in jail that he kills himself -- I think the cop and the prosecutor are directly responsible for that death.

    Adam Swartz seemed to be a situation like that. A sadistic prosecutor who just wants to put someone in jail to get notches on her bed.