Re: [GOAL] SSRN Sellout to Elsevier

"The software may change, but you can't sell off a distributed network of independent repositories.” I agree, and I think that this is the crucial point. The software doesn’t matter (well, it does matter, but it doesn’t affect this principle). It’s about the distribution of *control*. We are truly fortunate to have a global, distributed infrastructure of institutional repositories which are (mostly) under institutional control. This is quite an unusual arrangement these days - and I think we should regard it as precious and inherently powerful in its denial of the possibility of “ownership” by one party. We should do what we can to both hang on to this infrastructure, and to exploit it more fully, in pursuit of a better scholarly communications system.