Publisher’s cost cutting, including the botched use of AI, pushes editors of top journal to resign

Walled Culture has noted previously the fabulous levels of profit that many academic publishers have achieved, largely through the abuse of copyright, as explained in Walled Culture the book (free digital versions). And yet those levels are apparently not enough for perhaps the most successful of the academic publishers, Elsevier. A story on the site Retraction Watch reports on the mass […]

#academicPublishing #AccessToKnowledge #accessibility #ai #apc #copyediting #editing #elsevier #journals #openAccess #production #profits #resignations #retractions #subscriptions

https://walledculture.org/publishers-cost-cutting-including-the-botched-use-of-ai-pushes-editors-of-top-journal-to-resign/

How modern Mountweasels could block generative AI and undermine access to knowledge

Last week, an interesting problem with the generative AI system ChatGPT emerged, reported here by Ars Technica:

people discovered that the name “David Mayer” breaks ChatGPT. 404 Media also discovered that the names “Jonathan Zittrain” and “Jonathan Turley” caused ChatGPT to cut conversations short. And we know another name, likely the first, that started the practice last year: Brian Hood. […]

#AccessToKnowledge #ai #blocking #chatgpt #defamation #genai #mountweasel #searchEngines

https://walledculture.org/how-modern-mountweasels-could-block-generative-ai-and-undermine-access-to-knowledge/

Where open access has failed to reform academic publishing, perhaps antitrust law will succeed

The open access movement has been trying for over 20 years to promote the widest access to knowledge. Sadly, as numerous Walled Culture posts have chronicled, what should be a matter of social justice has been subverted by clever and cynical moves from the academic publishing industry in order to retain their fabulous profit margins. As a result, the open access movement has failed to deliver […]

#AccessToKnowledge #antiTrust #damages #elsevier #embargo #ingelfingerRule #injunctiveRelief #openAccess #peerReview #sage #sharing #springerNature #taylorFrancis #wiley #woltersKluwer

https://walledculture.org/where-open-access-has-failed-to-reform-academic-publishing-perhaps-antitrust-law-will-succeed/

10/20 "Access to Knowledge -in the age of intellectual property"
#AccessToInformation #AccessToKnowledge #OpenAccess #Copyright
(I was once asked in a kind of job interview about my personal motivation. My answer: access to knowledge. I got the job.)

Book Challenge: 20 books that have had an impact on who you are. One book a day for 20 days.
#20books #20books20days #BooksThatInfluencedYou #Books
@lesekreis
@boeken
@bookstodon
@buchstodon

Home alone with bad internet: why online university students in regional Australia are turning to study hubs

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/26/home-alone-with-bad-internet-why-online-university-students-in-regional-australia-are-turning-to-study-hubs

#education #literacy #accesstoknowledge #auspol

“OA publications are 38% more prevalent in patent citations (NPRs) than in the overall @OpenAlex database. In biology and medicine, inventors use 73% and 27% more OA publications, respectively, compared to closed-access ones.”

Source preprint: “The Nexus of Open Science and Innovation: Insights from Patent Citations” https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.15281 by Abdelghani Maddi (2024)

HT @petersuber

#OpenAccess #PublicBenefit #Innovation #AccessToKnowledge

Here you get the book as pdf: http://worrydream.com/refs/Papert%20-%20Mindstorms%201st%20ed.pdf
#ComputersForChildren #PersonalComputers #ComputerRevolution #Innovation #DigitalLearning #AccessToKnowledge

How an American activist helped make Indian standards available for free.

Carl Malamud ( @carlmalamud ) a 64-year old self-described Gandhian, had made it his life’s mission to make all information accessible to the public, everywhere.

https://scroll.in/article/1057344/how-an-american-activist-helped-make-indian-standards-available-for-free

#LongRead #Standards #AccessToKnowledge

Internet Archive: new copyright laws for generative AI would “further entrench” market leaders

The current excitement over artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, has now reached the stage where governments feel they need to do something about it in terms of regulations. The EU’s AI Act was drawn up before generative AI took off, but is now being retro-fitted with bad ideas to take account of recent developments. Meanwhile, across the …

#AccessToCulture #AccessToKnowledge #ai #BrewsterKahle #competition #generativeAi #InternetArchive #licensing #privacy #study #usCopyrightOffice

https://walledculture.org/internet-archive-new-copyright-laws-for-generative-ai-would-further-entrench-market-leaders/

ICYMI: The Urban Reader: Black Woman-Owned Mobile Bookstore In A School Bus Redefines Access To Knowledge https://shinemycrown.com/the-urban-reader-black-woman-owned-mobile-bookstore-in-a-school-bus-redefines-access-to-knowledge/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #News #Accesstoknowledge #Achievement #Blackwomanowned

The Urban Reader: Black Woman-Owned Mobile Bookstore In A School Bus Redefines Access To Knowledge https://shinemycrown.com/the-urban-reader-black-woman-owned-mobile-bookstore-in-a-school-bus-redefines-access-to-knowledge/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #News #Accesstoknowledge #Achievement #Blackwomanowned

The Freedom Walk (2008)

https://bow.st/articles/dc0c990/the-freedom-walk-2008

No big deal: calling the publishers’ bluff on high-price access to publicly-funded research 👉 @glynmoody reflects on research by @nicholasmfraser @Philipp_Mayr, @Isabella83 @najkoja @anhobert
#OpenAccess #Research #AcademicTwitter #AccessToKnowledge
https://walledculture.org/no-big-deal-calling-the-publishers-bluff-on-high-price-access-to-publicly-funded-research/

The EU has brought back opt-in copyright for text and data mining: let’s build on that foundation - @glynmoody
#TDM #copyright #MachineLearning #TextAndDataMining #AccessToKnowledge #AcademicTwitter
https://walledculture.org/the-eu-has-brought-back-opt-in-copyright-for-text-and-data-mining-lets-build-on-that-foundation/

The lawsuit we're fighting isn’t just about the Internet Archive. It will determine the future of all libraries & their patrons, including those with print disabilities. #Accesstoknowledge for diverse communities will be impacted 🌍

Over the next 20 days until we go to court, we’ll be giving you 20 reasons to care about this lawsuit. We can’t wait to introduce you to the teachers, doctors, journalists & many more who rely on our lending library #EmpoweringLibraries https://www.eff.org/cases/hachette-v-internet-archive

Copyright has been one of life’s certainties: but will it always be?
@glynmoody reflects how the Internet enables an alternative path for creators & creativity to flourish, without relying on control
#Copyright #AccessToKnowledge #AccessToCulture #TrueFans
https://walledculture.org/copyright-has-been-one-of-lifes-certainties-but-will-it-always-be/

Join us JAN 20TH in San Francisco for our in-person celebration of the #PublicDomain and #accesstoknowledge! Reserve a spot now: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/public-domain-day-party-in-san-francisco-tickets-477675589547

JAN 20TH: Join us in San Francisco to celebrate the #PublicDomain and #accesstoknowledge! Reserve your spot for our IN-PERSON event now: https://eventbrite.com/e/public-domain-day-party-in-san-francisco-tickets-477675589547

Whenever I'm trying to read a news article or an academic paper and I'm greeted with "you've run out of free articles for the month" or "sign up to read this!" I just....knowledge should be free. Everyone say it with me now: KNOWLEDGE. SHOULD. BE. FREE. #knowledge #accesstoknowledge #paytoread #dystopia #neolibs #commodification

@ton that's an important point, that search is contentious because it governance-by-instance, which is probably the strongest principle underlying #Mastodon governance. and it's the exact opposite of the idea of instance blocking - it benefits from a complete, instead of fractured view. I still think there are good reasons to have search, which boil down to an #AccessToKnowledge argument. Making this another case of the dichotomy between openness and privacy.