🧵1/ We are deeply disturbed that @Harvard_Press issued a DMCA takedown order against Z Library, a so-called "pirate" library that provides critical access to knowledge across the world to those who can't afford access, nor can their universities. tinyurl.com/zfdpn32n
2/ The Digital Milennium Copyright Act is one of the most heinous acts ever passed by the US Congress & Aaron Swartz, an important advocate for #OpenAccess who sacrificed his own life for his commitments to public knowledge, wrote eloquently against it. tinyurl.com/2p9py52x
3/ We are very familiar with this subject because we fought @VersoBooks & @thenewpress when they issued a DMCA takedown order against a publication of Swartz's writings, "Raw Thought," that had been published free online & in print: punctumbooks.com/blog/the-boy-w… Why did they do this?
4/ Both @VersoBooks & @thenewpress jointly published a book of selected writings of Swartz for which they asserted exclusive copyrights, a stunning betrayal of Swartz's legacy & they sought to cancel the other book, successfully. We were sickened on behalf of Swartz. #immoral
5/ Our assertion was that it was 100% immoral to publish Swartz's writings closed-access. More disgusting was that @VersoBooks issued a blog post on the day of publication saying that the book would be free to access for 24 hours but afterwards it would be "illegal" to download.
6/ In addition, the ebook issued by @VersoBooks was watermarked, on every page, with their copyright & they also required reader's emails so if anyone uploaded the book to an open sharing site, they could be caught & prosecuted, not that they would ever actually do that. #threat
7/ If Swartz had been alive, he would have never allowed this. Period. What @VersoBooks & @thenewpress did was so extremely immoral it still takes our breath away. We wrote a petition (see above) & they refused to respond or even to acknowledge the public dissent. #craven
8/ When Swartz was arrested by US govt for "illegally" downloading articles from JSTOR he had made a Freedom of Information request for access to documents related to the arrest of Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning. Eric Holder (Obama's Atty General) was only too eager to prosecute.
9/ The US govt. told Swartz that if he pled guilty for wire fraud they would reduce his sentence to 6 months, otherwise he would go to jail for 50 years & have to pay $1 million in fines. He committed suicide. We would ask @BarackObama to publicly apologize for this prosecution.
10/ Let us be clear: Aaron Swartz and @ZLibrary, @monoskop, @memoryofworld, @scihub & other so-called "pirate" libraries are important sites of civil disobedience & history will always be on their side. The recent #OSTP memo from @POTUS doesn't go far enough. Remember Swartz.
11/ By "remember Swartz," we mean an unfunded mandate is worthless. Put our public $$ where your mouth is or you are just fattening the coffers of corporate publishers who are already charging for #OpenAccess. Where is the democracy? Where is the commitment to Public Knowledge?
12/ To publishers who believe they add value to scholarship, which requires labor, we AGREE. Our services matter & are critical to the dissemination of knowledge. We understand we all need to have sustainability. This is where public funding comes in. Our govt. has let us down.
13/ To @Harvard_Press who are at a university that has more $$ than god, you are morally craven CRETINS. How dare you. To publishers who are struggling (uni & born OA presses), let's band together, as with @OpenBookCollect. We are vital to public knowledge. #OpenAccess #service
14/ Please @BarackObama and also @POTUS, please apologize for Aaron Swartz's prosecution, which was influenced by the Iraq War and Biden esp., do not give us an unfunded mandate for open knowledge. Anything less betrays the world & its access to life-saving research. #COVID
15/ In conclusion, open public knowledge matters, publishers add value to published research, and so-called "pirate" libraries are important sites of civil disobedience. We stand with them & with librarians who are working with us on systemic change. #LibraryTwitter
CODA: both @VersoBooks & @TheNewPress claim to be leftist, politically progressive presses, but their copyrighting of Swartz's writings was anything but. BOYCOTT these presses. They're SHIT.
P.S. we would note here that contra @Harvard_Press’s egregious DMCA takedown order against @zsrlibrary that uni presses such as @UofMPress & @mitpress are charting a different & admirable course but as @charleswatkinso has argued, govt funding is essential. #OpenAccess
CORRECTION: we tagged the wrong Z Library. Apologies! #ZLibrary
Apologies to @zsrlibrary — tagging you was a mistake. We meant to tag #ZLibrary. Intuitive AI makes fools of us all, as does neglecting to copy edit our threads before tweeting.
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