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There is another difference with Aaron Swartz: I'm not sure if Aaron would block access for a whole country over petty squabbles. [1] TL;DR: a few grateful scie

There is another difference with Aaron Swartz: I'm not sure if Aaron would block access for a whole country over petty squabbles. [1] TL;DR: a few grateful scientists named a newly discovered bug in her honour, she took offence and banned Russian IP's as a form of collective punishment. I find the whole story deeply fascinating, because it's a rare case when a person of very questionable moral values (I believe most people here would find her behaviour and views reprehensible) does unequivocal good to the society. It's so easy to fall into the trap of black-and-white hero narrative, but sometimes reality is just more gray and weird. [1]: https://medium.com/@alexandraborissova/sci-hub-banned-in-russia-by-its-founder-citing-bulling-by-liberal-81feca464863 https://medium.com/@alexandraborissova/sci-hub-banned-in-rus...

syshum 8y ago
>>>because it's a rare case when a person of very questionable moral values (I believe most people here would find her behaviour and views reprehensible) What behaviour? Blocking Russian IP's or releasing data to all? I find the blocking of Russian IP's to be petty, which I believe she backed down from but then had the ISP in Russia start banning the site. I dont think it raised to "reprehensible" Now if you mean ignoring Copyright law, and releasing copyrighted works to the world, I do not find that in anyway reprehensible, I am universally anti-copyright and do not believe it should exist at all
- vixen99 8y ago
  Not a tenable position unless you qualify it. It amounts to saying here should be no protection for those whose work output just happens to consist of copyable material?
  - nicoburns 8y ago
    It's not a position I agree with, but I think it is tenable. A lit of good could come from allowing everything to be freely copied.
  - syshum 8y ago
    The Surprising History of Copyright ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhBpI13dxkI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhBpI13dxkI ) Would you like to know more https://questioncopyright.org/promise https://questioncopyright.org/promise https://questioncopyright.org/learn https://questioncopyright.org/learn
- Fins 8y ago
  Blocking Russian scientists' access is pretty small example Elbakyan being reprehensible, regardless of whether Sci-Hub is or isn't a good thing. From all that's known about her, including her own chest-beating, she's a genuinely bad person, and her motivations have nothing to do with the "good of humankind".
azangru 8y ago
Yes, that was a remarkable episode in the history of SciHub, and a good example of the danger of relying on a non-distributed system essentially controlled by a single person. I hope it will be remembered.

syshum 8y ago

>>>because it's a rare case when a person of very questionable moral values (I believe most people here would find her behaviour and views reprehensible) What behaviour? Blocking Russian IP's or releasing data to all? I find the blocking of Russian IP's to be petty, which I believe she backed down from but then had the ISP in Russia start banning the site. I dont think it raised to "reprehensible" Now if you mean ignoring Copyright law, and releasing copyrighted works to the world, I do not find that in anyway reprehensible, I am universally anti-copyright and do not believe it should exist at all

vixen99 8y ago
Not a tenable position unless you qualify it. It amounts to saying here should be no protection for those whose work output just happens to consist of copyable material?
- nicoburns 8y ago
  It's not a position I agree with, but I think it is tenable. A lit of good could come from allowing everything to be freely copied.
- syshum 8y ago
  The Surprising History of Copyright ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhBpI13dxkI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhBpI13dxkI ) Would you like to know more https://questioncopyright.org/promise https://questioncopyright.org/promise https://questioncopyright.org/learn https://questioncopyright.org/learn
Fins 8y ago
Blocking Russian scientists' access is pretty small example Elbakyan being reprehensible, regardless of whether Sci-Hub is or isn't a good thing. From all that's known about her, including her own chest-beating, she's a genuinely bad person, and her motivations have nothing to do with the "good of humankind".

azangru 8y ago

Yes, that was a remarkable episode in the history of SciHub, and a good example of the danger of relying on a non-distributed system essentially controlled by a single person. I hope it will be remembered.