Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub • Hacker News Board

Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub

#31

Post by cwkoss » Thu, Jan 14, 2021, 6:28 PM UTC

abnry wrote: post #21

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.

For most academic researchers, publishing is a net cost: they aren't getting royalties when people pay to read their work. "Piracy" of these documents does not deprive the creators of anything. The only entities it hurts are the organizations of questionable social value who exist by gatekeeping this information.

Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub

#32

Post by secondcoming » Thu, Jan 14, 2021, 6:28 PM UTC

cpursley wrote: post #25

kwhitefoot wrote: post #20

Earlier 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.

Trial by upvotes on /r/publicopinion!

Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub

#33

Post by atomashpolskiy » Thu, Jan 14, 2021, 6:29 PM UTC

It also shut down the account of the Russian-made vaccine Sputnik V today. Seems like they are taking too much upon themselves lately, aren't they?

UPD: Access has been restored.

Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub

#34

Post by michaelmior » Thu, Jan 14, 2021, 6:29 PM UTC

HarryHirsch wrote: post #18

spoonjim wrote: post #15

Earlier 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…

Why would Twitter request a court to issue an injunction to remove him from the platform that they own and control? They're fully able to do some without an injunction so I'm not sure any court would even deal with the case. IANAL

Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub

#35

Post by superkuh » Thu, Jan 14, 2021, 6:29 PM UTC

ABeeSea wrote: post #23

tyingq wrote: post #4

Not 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.

If you took a photo of one of the chairs and looked at it at home you'd be just fine though. You're mixing up theft and copyright infringement.

Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub

#36

Post by rektide » Thu, Jan 14, 2021, 6:31 PM UTC

typenil wrote: post #27

ABeeSea wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Let's talk about the purpose of these things, chairs & papaers.

The purpose of a chair is to enhance the space it resides in by enabling folks to rest/sit in the chair.

The purpose of a paper is to document science, such that others can see that science, replicate it, learn from it, extend it; the purpose of a paper is to present science such that we can all beget yet more science to happen.

Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub

#37

Post by tengbretson » Thu, Jan 14, 2021, 6:31 PM UTC

I'm not very familiar with Sci-Hub, but I doubt they were uploading pirated content to be hosted on Twitter, so what would their violation be? Incitement to commit copyright violation?

Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub

#38

Post by russell_h » Thu, Jan 14, 2021, 6:31 PM UTC

HarryHirsch wrote: post #18

spoonjim wrote: post #15

Earlier 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…

To be clear, there is no serious interpretation of the US Constitution required here: Twitter absolutely has the right to determine what shows up on their website. For the government to require Twitter to publish the opinions of the president would be a very clear violation of Twitter’s own first amendment rights.

There could be more nuance involved if, for example, there were a credible claim of racial discrimination involved, but that’s obviously not the case here.

Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub

#39

Post by cwkoss » Thu, Jan 14, 2021, 6:31 PM UTC

In a just world, any organization which tries to prevent the free exchange of scientific information would be dismantled.

Re: Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub

#40

Post by speeder » Thu, Jan 14, 2021, 6:31 PM UTC

Solocomplex wrote: post #24

HarryHirsch wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I am not from US, but would like to point you are wrong about that.

He can call a conference, but the press is not obliged to show up.

https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/cnn-white-house-press-confe...

And since that in 2017, when they figured they could skip his press conferences, it has becoming more and more normal, if I remember correctly he announced a press conference only some days ago and it was ignored by almost all major media corporations with a few exceptions (Fox for example aired him).