I don't support piracy. So I don't support Sci-hub. But I believe that publishers are bilking the public and that publicly funded research should be made freely available. The real way to fix this is to disrupt the reputational incentives academics (and deans supporting this) have to keep publishing in these journals. For some reason, I think this is an unpopular opinion on HN.
Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub
21–30 of 335 posts
Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub
#22This move is bold and refreshing. I think Facebook and Amazon should also be taking action (assuming sci hub is using AWS and people are posting links to it on FB and organizing groups).
It’s only fair that, in case of breach of any law, regardless of where it comes from, that same measures be applied in each and every case.
I’m sure HN would agree given what has transpired over the last week.
Edit: I missed to include CloudFlare and others as well. They shouldn’t be providing DNS services to anyone who is breaking any laws.
Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub
#23Not a fan of "pirated" as the descriptive word for what Sci-Hub does. I'm sure some of it fits that description. On the other hand, a fair amount of these papers are funded with taxpayer dollars, and shouldn't be hidden behind paywalls in the first place.
The chairs at the DMV are also paid with taxpayer dollars. I’d be arrested if I tried to walk out the door with one.
Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
What’s your opinion on their takedown of @realDonaldTrump?
The same. If he is seditious you can get a court to issue an injunction very quickly, and if he isn't a private entity has no issue determining what a politician can say. As a German one thinks different about free speech than do most Americans. We know all too well where too much free speech leads and when in doubt let the courts decide because we love public peace. Putting a muzzle on someone is interfering with po…
His speech has not been restricted in any real way. He can call a press conference and communicate with every American within minutes.
Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
What’s your opinion on their takedown of @realDonaldTrump?
(Not the OP) I would prefer that Twitter did it in response to a court order. But courts don't seem to be able to act fast enough.
Which is why we should also get rid of the courts in addition to free speech.
Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
What’s your opinion on their takedown of @realDonaldTrump?
The same. If he is seditious you can get a court to issue an injunction very quickly, and if he isn't a private entity has no issue determining what a politician can say. As a German one thinks different about free speech than do most Americans. We know all too well where too much free speech leads and when in doubt let the courts decide because we love public peace. Putting a muzzle on someone is interfering with po…
> If he is seditious you can get a court to issue an injunction very quickly
Maybe courts work differently in Germany, but one word I would absolutely never use to describe them is "quick".
Furthermore, courts in the US tend to be extremely skeptical of what is called "prior restrain". And describing what ought to be proscribed is especially complicated by Trumps use of innuendo and circumspection. He almost never says anything directly, even when it's pretty much apolitical - see for instance him explaining what Uranium is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCnKtzQpCSs
Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub
#27Not a fan of "pirated" as the descriptive word for what Sci-Hub does. I'm sure some of it fits that description. On the other hand, a fair amount of these papers are funded with taxpayer dollars, and shouldn't be hidden behind paywalls in the first place.
The chairs at the DMV are also paid with taxpayer dollars. I’d be arrested if I tried to walk out the door with one.
That's totally the same thing - because downloading a paper destroys the original copy.
Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
(Not the OP) I would prefer that Twitter did it in response to a court order. But courts don't seem to be able to act fast enough.
Which is why we should also get rid of the courts in addition to free speech.
Credit card companies managed to do just that.
There is the argument that class actions are preferable to Parliament setting laws because courts are more agile, setting precedent. So Big Money got in front of that through mandatory arbitration. Why that is constitutional I couldn't tell. Perhaps it is because Congress is corrupt.
Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
What’s your opinion on their takedown of @realDonaldTrump?
The same. If he is seditious you can get a court to issue an injunction very quickly, and if he isn't a private entity has no issue determining what a politician can say. As a German one thinks different about free speech than do most Americans. We know all too well where too much free speech leads and when in doubt let the courts decide because we love public peace. Putting a muzzle on someone is interfering with po…
Well our laws and legal traditions are a bit different than Germany’s Basic Law and Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch.
In our case Twitter’s private property rights trump the President’s rights. The President is the President and the President can always get a message out if he wants; Twitter on the other hand is not obligated to serve as a medium of Government communications and if they had IP banned the White House and Capitol at any point in their history, and maybe IP banned the equivalents in other countries, who would be able to say they couldn’t?
Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub
#30They’re a private company, Sci-Hub has to make their own social media service
Yes, that's a legit option. But it does not mean that what twitter has done here is not very, very wrong. So bad in fact that individual humans should reflect on it and decide if they want to continue supporting twitter themselves by using it.
This is the inevitable end of any popular centralized incorporated means of communication.