A couple of thoughts: 1) This could open up the market again for search engines (ie - "we don't censor your search, so use us instead of the other guys". 2) H

A couple of thoughts: 1) This could open up the market again for search engines (ie - "we don't censor your search, so use us instead of the other guys". 2) How long until you try to search for "{name of research paper} pdf" and you only get links back to the pay-for-access sites for research papers? Personally I think this is BS, but I understand why they are doing it. It won't stop piracy or other illegal crap - it will just move it elsewhere, like it always has. If you want the stuff, you can find it. You always have, you always will. The second one, though, bothers me. All too often, I read an article about a research paper I want to read, only to be paywalled by one of the big research paper companies. But usually - if the paper is older than 6 months or so - I can google for it, and find a copy (sometimes a draft). In many cases, it will be off of one of the researcher's sites or blogs. Other times, it will be in an FTP archive somewhere, or linked by someone else. It really bothers me when for a research paper, I am asked to pay anywhere from $25.00 USD or more for a PDF, as an interested individual or hobbyist. Researchers are also expected to do the same, but are largely insulated from it by their institutions, who shell out big $$$ for a subscription to the services (so for the researcher, they don't see the cost - though most know about it otherwise - plus they usually have to pay thru the nose themselves just to get it on the path to publishing!). I have found that sometimes - in certain cases - finding the author(s) of a paper and emailing them asking for a copy (stating that I am a hobbyist interested in their work) generally works well enough to get a copy sent to me (and sometimes much more). Ultimately - I wouldn't be surprised to see Google and Bing do this after a few threats from the publishing companies...