[FC-discuss] "Scientific publishers get a law introduced to end free publication of govt-funded research"

Nelson Pavlosky nelson at freeculture.org
Sat Feb 28 11:04:44 EST 2009


According to the Alliance for Taxpayer Access, the first thing we
should do is take action and contact our Representatives TODAY!

http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/action/HR801-09-0211.html

I'm honestly not sure why the deadline is today, but I'm sure there is
a good reason related to the legislative process.

~Nelson~

On Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 12:48 AM, Adi Kamdar <adikamdar at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm not too knowledgeable about how Congress works, but I do know that the
> bill was only just introduced and has been referred to the House Committee
> on the Judiciary.
>
> Funny thing is that Conyers is the current chairman of the Head Committee on
> the Judiciary. Hmm.
>
> But basically the bill still has to go to Subcommittee (although, maybe not,
> since it's IP related), the full Committee, then the Rules Committee, then
> it's debated and voted on by the full House. etc. etc. (See: Schoolhouse
> Rock)
>
> Here's an article by James Boyle about this... worth a read/laugh.
> http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7a110fa6-0219-11de-8199-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
>
> As far as action, letters seem to be a good start--both to Conyers and to
> school newspapers. I... am not sure what else.
> -Adi
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 10:22 PM, Kevin Donovan <kdonovan11 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> I don't know what that coordinated action would look like, but I do think
>> it should have some sort of real-world manifestation - mass mailings to
>> Conyers or something.
>>
>> But before we do that, does anyone who understands how Congress works have
>> info on where this bill stands?
>>
>> From speaking with Georgetown's head of federal relations, it seems like
>> this isn't that far along. But it would help to understand what choke points
>> we should target...
>>
>> On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 10:14 PM, Elizabeth Stark <emstark at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Definitely. I'm also thinking of some kind of coordinated action across
>>> FC chapters, and/or site to coordinate action across the web. What else is
>>> out there so far?
>>>
>>> On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 10:12 PM, Kevin Donovan <kdonovan11 at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> A very easy thing to do is inform other university community members
>>>> about this. I wrote an OpEd for the Georgetown newspaper. Feel free to
>>>> re-appropriate it: http://thehoya.com/node/18112
>>>>
>>>> And get in touch with the librarians. They are great on this issue.
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 9:19 PM, Gavin Baker <gavin at gavinbaker.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> The place to start for ideas:
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.righttoresearch.org/
>>>>>
>>>>> Brian Rowe wrote:
>>>>> > This would be a large step backwards for OA.  I am in for what ever
>>>>> > we
>>>>> > want to do.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Here is a little more info on the finicing of the bill from Nathan
>>>>> > Georgette's Open Access Blog
>>>>> > <http://openaccessblog.com/2009/02/following-money-on-hr801.html> :
>>>>> >
>>>>> >     Two days ago, I issued an urgent call to action
>>>>> >
>>>>> > <http://openaccessblog.com/2009/02/stand-for-open-access-oppose-hr801.html>
>>>>> >     concerning HR801, re-introduced by Congressional Representative
>>>>> > John
>>>>> >     Conyers (D-MI), which would essentially reverse the NIH Open
>>>>> > Access
>>>>> >     policy. I have much respect for Representative Conyers,
>>>>> > especially
>>>>> >     on his health care policies. Thus, I was greatly disturbed upon
>>>>> >     hearing of this development.
>>>>> >
>>>>> >     I wanted to know why Conyers would do such a thing, and began
>>>>> >     investigating the money trail on Conyers' campaign contributions
>>>>> >     (thanks Alex for the idea!). What I came upon sank my heart.
>>>>> >     According to Open Secrets
>>>>> >
>>>>> > <http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00004029>,
>>>>> >     Conyers' third single largest campaign contributor in 2008 was
>>>>> > the
>>>>> >     American Intellectual Property Law Association
>>>>> >     <http://www.aipla.org/> (AIPLA), whose "Key Bills of the 111th
>>>>> >     Congress
>>>>> >
>>>>> > <http://www.aipla.org/Content/NavigationMenu/IP_Issues_and_Advocacy/Legislation1/111th_Congress/Key_Bills_of_the_111th/Key_Bills_of_the_111th.htm>"
>>>>> >     include HR801. Surprised? Shouldn't be. Money talks, and big
>>>>> > money
>>>>> >     talks that much louder.
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I joined the AIPLA last year as a student and was very unimpressed
>>>>> > they
>>>>> > are on the ultra protectionist side of IP, I choose not to renew the
>>>>> > membership this year.  They have been recruiting students and
>>>>> > professor
>>>>> > rather heavily over the last few years I am curious if we have any
>>>>> > active members of the AIPLA that are willing to speak out.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > -Brian Rowe
>>>>> >
>>>>> > On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 4:23 PM, Elizabeth Stark <emstark at gmail.com
>>>>> > <mailto:emstark at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>>> >
>>>>> >     I think we can do something kind of big here. Barbie in a Blender
>>>>> >     style..
>>>>> >
>>>>> >     On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 7:05 PM, Gavin Baker
>>>>> > <gavin at gavinbaker.com
>>>>> >     <mailto:gavin at gavinbaker.com>> wrote:
>>>>> >
>>>>> >         Yes, please get involved :)
>>>>> >
>>>>> >         Need any help, holla at me!
>>>>> >
>>>>> >         Elizabeth Stark wrote:
>>>>> >         > There's a great opportunity for us to get involved in
>>>>> > activism
>>>>> >         against
>>>>> >         > this bill, especially involving chapters. Ideas for how we
>>>>> > can
>>>>> >         best do
>>>>> >         > this?
>>>>> >         >
>>>>> >         > I know Change Congress is looking to target it as well.
>>>>> >         >
>>>>> >         > On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 6:19 AM, Rob Myers
>>>>> > <rob at robmyers.org
>>>>> >         <mailto:rob at robmyers.org>
>>>>> >         > <mailto:rob at robmyers.org <mailto:rob at robmyers.org>>> wrote:
>>>>> >         >
>>>>> >         >
>>>>> > http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/16/scientific-publisher.html
>>>>> >         >
>>>>> >         >     "Steve sez, "Currently, the National Institutes of
>>>>> > Health
>>>>> >         require
>>>>> >         >     NIH-funded research to be published in open-access
>>>>> >         repositories. In a
>>>>> >         >     cop to for-profit science publishers, Congressional
>>>>> >         Representative
>>>>> >         >     John Conyers (D-MI) has re-introduced a bill (HR801)
>>>>> > that
>>>>> >         essentially
>>>>> >         >     would negate the NIH policy concerning depositing
>>>>> > research
>>>>> >         in OA
>>>>> >         >     repositories. The bill goes further than prohibiting
>>>>> > open
>>>>> >         access
>>>>> >         >     requirements, however, as the bill also prohibits
>>>>> >         government agencies
>>>>> >         >     from obtaining a license to publicly distribute,
>>>>> > perform,
>>>>> >         or display
>>>>> >         >     such work by, for example, placing it on the Internet,
>>>>> > and
>>>>> >         would
>>>>> >         >     repeal the longstanding 'federal purpose' doctrine,
>>>>> > under
>>>>> >         which all
>>>>> >         >     federal agencies that fund the creation of a
>>>>> > copyrighted
>>>>> >         work reserve
>>>>> >         >     the 'royalty-free, nonexclusive right to reproduce,
>>>>> >         publish, or
>>>>> >         >     otherwise use the work' for any federal purpose. The
>>>>> > bill
>>>>> >         is bad
>>>>> >         >     news." "
>>>>> >         >     _______________________________________________
>>>>> >         >     Discuss mailing list
>>>>> >         >     Discuss at freeculture.org
>>>>> > <mailto:Discuss at freeculture.org>
>>>>> >         <mailto:Discuss at freeculture.org
>>>>> > <mailto:Discuss at freeculture.org>>
>>>>> >         >     http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>>> >         >
>>>>> >         >
>>>>> >         >
>>>>> >         >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>> >         >
>>>>> >         > _______________________________________________
>>>>> >         > Discuss mailing list
>>>>> >         > Discuss at freeculture.org <mailto:Discuss at freeculture.org>
>>>>> >         > http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>>> >
>>>>> >         --
>>>>> >         Gavin Baker
>>>>> >         http://www.gavinbaker.com/
>>>>> >         gavin at gavinbaker.com <mailto:gavin at gavinbaker.com>
>>>>> >
>>>>> >         No, I do not weep at the world -- I am too busy sharpening my
>>>>> >         oyster knife.
>>>>> >            Zora Neale Hurston
>>>>> >         _______________________________________________
>>>>> >         Discuss mailing list
>>>>> >         Discuss at freeculture.org <mailto:Discuss at freeculture.org>
>>>>> >         http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> >     _______________________________________________
>>>>> >     Discuss mailing list
>>>>> >     Discuss at freeculture.org <mailto:Discuss at freeculture.org>
>>>>> >     http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > --
>>>>> > Brian Rowe
>>>>> > 3L Seattle University
>>>>> > (206) 335-8577 (Cell)
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Access To Justice Technology Principles
>>>>> > www.ATJWeb.org <http://www.ATJWeb.org>
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Freedom for IP
>>>>> > www.FreedomforIP.org <http://www.FreedomforIP.org>
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Seattle Human Rights Network
>>>>> > www.SeattleHumanRightsNetwork.org
>>>>> > <http://www.SeattleHumanRightsNetwork.org>
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>> >
>>>>> > _______________________________________________
>>>>> > Discuss mailing list
>>>>> > Discuss at freeculture.org
>>>>> > http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Gavin Baker
>>>>> http://www.gavinbaker.com/
>>>>> gavin at gavinbaker.com
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Discuss mailing list
>>>>> Discuss at freeculture.org
>>>>> http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Kevin Donovan
>>>> Georgetown '11: SFS
>>>> 630.849.8285
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Discuss mailing list
>>>> Discuss at freeculture.org
>>>> http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Discuss mailing list
>>> Discuss at freeculture.org
>>> http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Kevin Donovan
>> Georgetown '11: SFS
>> 630.849.8285
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Discuss mailing list
>> Discuss at freeculture.org
>> http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>
>
>
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> http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
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