Geurilla open access cookbook

[Ted Smith]

On Thu, 2013-01-24 at 12:47 -0800, James Salsman wrote:
> "The Open Access Guerilla Cookbook" came up in IRC just now. There is
> a better way to accomplish the same goals for people in the Global
> South and similar who need access to closed scholarly documents, and
> much better than forming elaborate conspiracies which could put the
> jobs of the "traitors" at risk, not to mention the freedom of everyone
> involved.
> 
This is a specific instance of a very large ongoing debate in multiple
different struggles, between supporters of strict pacifism/legalism and
supporters of a diversity of tactics.

I think that if you are uncomfortable with taking direct action to
liberate scientific knowledge, you can still be a valuable participant
in this broader movement, using tactics and strategies like the one
you've described.

However, I feel that it's wrong to condemn those who are willing to take
those risks, and betray whatever institutions give them privilege.

If we want any movement to grow, we need to be ready to accept a diverse
range of tactics from comrades that we may or may not agree with on
questions of specific actions, but that we must support writ large,
since they are fighting the same battle we are, and we would ask the
same of them.

So to conclude: you've presented a good idea, and I will support you if
you are persecuted for using it, as long as you recognize that those who
publish things as the open access guerilla cookbook are trying to
achieve the same goals as you, and you support their work towards those
ends.

(I also don't see how the Global South plays into this, and am not sure
why you mention it.)

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