Open Research is probably one of the most important goals of the Open University campaign.
Let knowledge be free. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Internet vs. Paper Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 13:03:23 -0500 (EST) From: Lawrence Lessig and Michael Eisen <[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] To: [email protected] Change Congress Dear Matthew, You may have heard of Big Oil, but have you heard of "Big Paper"? We know, sounds crazy, but check this out. Right now, there's a proposal in Congress to forbid the government from requiring scientists who receive taxpayer funds for medical research to publish their findings openly on the Internet. This ban on "open access publishing" (which is currently required) would result in a lot of government-funded research being published exclusively in for-profit journals -- inaccessible to the general public. A study by MAPLight.org shows that sponsors of this bill -- led by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) -- received twice as much money from the publishing industry as those on the relevant committee who are not sponsors. This is exactly the kind of money-for-influence scheme that constantly happens behind our backs. Can you call your local member of Congress and ask him/her to oppose this corrupt bill -- H.R. 801, The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act? Then, call Rep. John Conyers and tell him to withdraw it.* * 202-224-3121 - to call your local House member 202-225-3951 - to call Rep. Conyers Let us know what they said by dropping us an email at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>. We've included a script below. Already people across the nation are calling Congress to oppose this bill. /"I called Representative Courtney (CT) and left a message asking him to oppose the Conyers' bill. I am very disappointed in Conyers, whom I had always respected until now. This kind of payoff is not the kind of change we had hoped for." - Marjorie O. Higganum, CT./ Who's against this bill? 33 U.S. Nobel laureates in science, 46 law professors, and groups like the American Library Association, the Alliance for Taxpayer Access and open access advocates. Now, Congress needs to hear from the most important voice of all: you. Can you take a moment to call your member of Congress and Rep. John Conyers today, to let them know H.R. 801 hurts the public? Thanks for helping to Change Congress. Lawrence Lessig Change Congress Michael Eisen Co-founder of Public Library of Science and Evolutionary Biologist at UC Berkeley P.S. The new MAPLight.org report is located here: http://www.maplight.org/HR801_2009_Analysis <http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=e13FMR757ZXGRlQUk3s1JU5y9rrHYIHU> ========================================= Phone script for calling Rep. Conyers and your member of Congress: "Hello, my name is __________ and I'd like to let Rep. [NAME] know that I, along with groups like the American Library Association, the Alliance For Taxpayer Access as well as 33 Nobel Laureates in science, oppose bill H.R. 801 the "Fair Copyright in Research Act," that will keep valuable tax-payer funded research inaccessible to the public online. This sort of life-saving research and information should be open for all to read on the Internet and not hidden from the public in for-profit journals. I am deeply concerned about a new report from MAPLight.org showing that sponsors of this bill, led by Congressman Conyers, received twice as much money in campaign contributions, as those who are non-sponsors. This sort of influence-peddling is exactly what needs to be stopped in our government. I'm calling to ask Rep. [NAME] to publicly put out a statement opposing H.R. 801. Can you please deliver that message? Thank you for your time." NOTE: For Rep. Conyers, please ask him to drop bill H.R. 801 Click here to unsubscribe <http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=3DEAE1OVyqnezHgNgYWlaqQga5MZwwao> Paid for by Change Congress <http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=l1zpZOh%2BbjHy0nI4Tfx7Y6Qga5MZwwao> Read our Privacy Policy <http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=1SIvn3ZuJzVOgRcq6uwKbaQga5MZwwao>. [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> | Creative Commons License <http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=8SSg1tjFOLUDASNQHMsUFqQga5MZwwao> _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
