Colombian student Diego Gomez is going to trial for sharing a research article online - Creative Commons

"Last year several organizations highlighted the situation of Colombian graduate student Diego Gomez, who had a criminal complaint filed against him for sharing a research article online. Gomez is a student in conservation and wildlife management, and for the most part has poor access to many of the resources and databases that would help him conduct his research. He shared an academic paper on Scribd so that he and others could access it for their work. If convicted, Diego could face a prison term of 4-8 years. Gomez will appear in court on June 30. The Electronic Frontier Foundation sums up Diego’s situation well: 'He posted the paper online because he was excited that he found it, because he wanted to share that knowledge with others who shared his passion. Copyright should not turn students like Gomez into criminals for reveling in their quest for knowledge nor for helping others to do the same.' As Gomez goes to trial this week, we must ask again: why are we prosecuting students for sharing knowledge? ..."