"Surely it couldn't be too hard to obtain copies of all the papers to date and put them online?" Except that would not help at all with the underlying problem.

"Surely it couldn't be too hard to obtain copies of all the papers to date and put them online?" Except that would not help at all with the underlying problem. Scientists need the articles to be easily accessible, up-to-date and citable. The science publishers' monopoly is not so much on content as it is on prestige.