Academic Publishing Giant Fights to Keep Science Paywalled

"One of the world’s largest academic publishing companies wants to scrub the internet of pirated science. That’d be Elsevier, which recently filed a complaint at a New York district court against Library Genesis and SciHub.org, two massive online hubs for scientific research articles. The sites, which are both popular in developing countries like India and Indonesia, are a treasure trove of free pdf copies of research papers that typically cost an arm and a leg without a university library subscription. Most of the content on Libgen and SciHub was probably uploaded using borrowed or stolen student or faculty university credentials. Elsevier is hoping to shut both sites down and receive compensation for its losses, which could run in the millions. Although Elsevier may technically be the wronged party here, it’s hard to feel bad for the academic publishing giant. If you’re a student or faculty at a university, you’re privy through your school’s library subscription to a vast wealth of scientific knowledge. If you’re on the outside, academic literature is—with the exception of a small number of open access journals—barred behind paywalls that are exorbitant by the standards of wealthy nations. (There’s a reason it’s called the Ivory Tower) ..."