Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Z-Library: The price of academic knowledge

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

The University of Ottawa student newspaper reports on Z-Library, "recently taken offline by the FBI, was a free, online shadow library that offered students relief from (textbook) expenses." It's unclear who is the wrongdoer here, writes Grace Kim-Shin. "It's unfair to deprive people of compensation for their work — especially small up-and-coming authors. But, do the large-scale publishers that have a monopoly over the textbook market deserve the same level of sympathy? ...  what is the real crime — copyright theft, or the deprivation of knowledge? The gatekeeping of academic material is robbing people of knowledge which should be accessible and free." Via Geoff Cain.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Apr 20, 2024 05:24 a.m.

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