Those who take on the global industry that traps research behind paywalls are heroes, not thievesNever underestimate the power of one determined person. What Carole Cadwalladr has done to Facebook and big data, and Edward Snowden has done to the state security complex, Alexandra Elbakyan has done to the multibillion-dollar industry that traps knowledge behind paywalls. Sci-Hub, her pirate web scraper service, has done more than any government to tackle one of the biggest rip-offs of the modern era: the capture of publicly funded research that should belong to us all. Everyone should be free to learn; knowledge should be disseminated as widely as possible. No one would publicly disagree with these sentiments. Yet governments and universities have allowed the big academic publishers to deny these rights. Academic publishing might sound like an obscure and fusty affair, but it uses one of the most ruthless and profitable business models of any industry.The model was pioneered by the notorious conman Robert Maxwell. He realised that, because scientists need to be informed about all significant developments in their field, every journal that publishes academic papers can establish a monopoly and charge outrageous fees for the transmission of knowledge. He called his discovery “a perpetual financing machine”. He also realised that he could capture other people’s labour and resources for nothing. Governments funded the research published by his company, Pergamon, while... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2018-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Blanchard Systems, developer of SendMyAd, debuts its editorial solution Virtual Publisher. Virtual Publisher is a book planning and production tool for print and digital editions, and is compatible with Adobe InDesign Plugins. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2012-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tim Brooks, the former managing director of Guardian News & Media, identifies a new sense of optimism setting into the publishing industry, after two years of concern amid sweeping change. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2012-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It would be a big surprise if one of the major publishers were to follow Stylist magazine and launch a mainstream free women's title, according to Lisa Smosarski, editor of Stylist, who believes such a move would be a "big step". Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2012-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By the time Apple released the iPad in April of 2010, just four months after Steve Jobs first announced his "magical and revolutionary" new machines in San Francisco, traditional publishers had been overtaken by a collective delusion. They be ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-05-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Leaders from the world of magazine publishing are set to tackle the industry's multiplatform future on Wednesday (9 May) at Publishing+, the PPA's conference at the Hilton Metropole. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2012-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Online retailer Fishpond.co.uk is looking to build relationships with publishers large and small... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Robert M. Sacks In any given year, I give about a dozen “talks” about the publishing industry. Sometimes it is to interested companies and sometimes it is to the industry at large during publishing conventions... Continue reading at Publishing Executive
[ Publishing Executive | 2012-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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All hail the ebook! Seriously, if it weren't for this marvelous literary development, try saying with a straight face that you wouldn't at least take pause before adding a new title to your collection. Numbers are in from The Publisher's Association -- a group of 120 companies across the trade... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Washington, D.C., May 2, 2012: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) a leading IT services, consulting, and business solutions organization, today announced the launch of its Digital Publishing Platform (DPP) at MarkLogic World 201 ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers are creating exclusive products, including an original essay by Julian Barnes, ... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Science fiction publisher Tor UK has announced it will stop using the technology that restricts copying from all of its ebooks, in a possible precedent for the industry. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The publishing industry has a problem. The old guard haven't innovated. And neither their business models nor their products embrace the digital books revolution. Take the ongoing and complicated spat between Apple and the Justice Department over the agency pricing model and alleged collusion... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2012-04-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cambridge University Press’ Education publishing arm has been renamed International... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Schools and libraries specialist Raintree is launching into India with locally produced books... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the wake of its 2011 acquisition by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, ebook retailer Kobo continues to make news. In a phone interview, CEO Mike Serbinis offered a look at the company’s plans and initiatives for the rest of the year. On the heels of Kobo’s plan to set up Kobo “stores within... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nature Publishing Group is trying to break into the future of scientific publishing with its new linked data platform—launched earlier this month; the new platform is designed to enrich search functions. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2012-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Last week, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Apple and five publishers for allegedly colluding on ebook prices, and class-actions suits in the U.S. continue. Three Canadian law firms are filing class-action suits against as well ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An unconventional collection of novels failed to generate a consensus among the Pulitzer board members. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2012-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital migration has taken off in the UK and US, but not in other countries to any significant... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In February, the Educational Development Corporation said it would remove all its titles from Amazon, more evidence of the tumult over who gets to decide how much a book costs. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2012-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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