Re: [Fsfe-uk] Swpat & Lords Science & Technology Select Committee

[MJ Ray]

On 2004-07-22 23:08:29 +0100 Tom Chance <address@hidden> wrote:

> Holger Blasum of the FFII sent me a message asking if we had thought 
> to 
> directly approach the Science & Technology Select Committee in the 
> House of 
> Lords?

Is someone able to do this? It would probably be good to have people 
in contact with each parliament or assembly technology committee, so 
don't be shy: there's plenty to go round!

> They released a report recently on open, accessible scientific 
> publishing:
> http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmsctech/399/39902.htm

This looks like it is about Open Access 
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/overview.htm

Open Access has many similar motives to Free Software, but seems to be 
younger and things like anti-commercial discrimination is still widely 
accepted. There are some links between the two, but all the ones I 
know of are very recent.

> The news report (in German... can anyone translate?) is here:
> http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/49262

British Parliament for Open Access

In the newly published report "Scientific Publications: Free for 
All?", the Science and Technology Commitee of the House of Commons(?) 
criticises the British government: so far, they have paid too little 
attention to the misdevelopment of scientific publishing. Considering 
an average price rise for scientific journals of 58 percent between 
1998 and 2003, shrinking library budgets and above average rises of 
scientific publications in comparison to other fields, the committee 
noted with growing worry "that the financial benefits of the 
considerable research investments from the public purse is 
increasingly excessively moving into the pockets of publishers' 
shareholders". "Digitalisation should ease the exit and not close in."
[TRANSLATION ENDS]

That last quote makes little sense to me and it was hell to straighten 
out both of them into something vaguely like English. The next 
sentence is four lines long! No way! I hate news-German and I was only 
taught the language 1988-92. If you want to ask questions about it, 
I'll try to answer, but it's much slower for me to translate than 
comprehend.

--
MJR/slef    My Opinion Only and not of any group I know
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