Yesterday on the twits there was a suggestion that teachers (of the K-12 kind) use #icanhazpdf and/or SciHub to obtain paywalled papers. Even before contacting the authors directly.*
No. Just. No.
#icanhazpdf and SciHub are illegal.** Those pushing their use know this, and it’s their choice if they want to use those venues. But do most K-12 teachers know about the legal issues? I doubt it.
Using others who may not know better to forward your agenda – no matter how noble an agenda it is – is reprehensible.
And before you go on and on about how the public should have free access, US taxpayer dollars etc., stop. That’s not what this post is about. It’s about the kind of extreme evangelism that uses others as cannon fodder. The kind that is more likely to hurt your agenda than help it. The kind that’s repugnant.
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* Some have at least recanted this position, so I won’t name and shame.
** At least here in the US.
