I didn't realize that academia mandated a sign up for download of content. IIRC their position was that signup would be optional in order to differentiate thems

I didn't realize that academia mandated a sign up for download of content. IIRC their position was that signup would be optional in order to differentiate themselves from traditional academic publishers who protect access to their content with paywalls/subscriptions. Clearly, either I was mistaken or they have changed their policies.