You Can Haz Your PDFs If You Check Your Damned Privilege

"There has been a discussion on Twitter over the last 48 hours or so about the legality and morality of requesting and trading PDFs on the internet. In one corner – the open access missionaries, spreading love and data everywhere. On the other corner – those who want you to pay a million dollars for that one research article. I was generally amused by the exchange until the participants in the discussion began comparing trading PDFs to the Underground Railroad. These folks should know better...."