Hi,
My initial subject line was : "Where we go with monopolistic licensed databases ? A bad example below..." It was changed automatically by the ILL mail server, replacing it by the subject of the forwarded email about Endeavour.
So, if some results obtained from these monopolistic databases are now only usable by those having the database licence, then the question is what next ?
Will some solutions obtained from commercial software be disclosed only to those having paid the same licence software ? Etc.
I may also play the role of the devil attorney and add my two cents :
Pushing the commercial logic to the extreme may suggest that any publication about a commercial software or database is in fact an advertisement and should be treated as such by the editor. So, the CCDC (etc) or Crystal Impact or Accelrys should have paid the IUCr for making these large number of page advertisements about DASH, ENDEAVOUR, POWDERSOLVE, XCELL, etc, etc in the J. Appl. Cryst. (and see that whole special issue about databases in Acta Cryst. B58 part 3 number 1). All these "papers" praise the merits of commercial products (and generally the not surprising conclusions are that they are quite good ;-). Well, no problem, advertisements about food are paid by the consumers, this is well known, so that the costs of these advertisement pages would be reported on the software and database costs. Is that not a good idea ?
Armel
PS - The CNRS has pull on the shoe of the GPL (Gnu Public Licence) and open source software. They have adapted the licence to the french law sauce : http://www.sg.cnrs.fr/daj/3propriete/licencelogiciel.htm
