open

Free and open access to European research results

January 29th 2007. Nobel laureates Harold Varmus and Rich Roberts are among the more than ten thousand concerned researchers, senior academics, lecturers, librarians, and citizens from across Europe and around the world who are signing an internet petition calling on the European Commission to adopt polices to guarantee free public access to research results and maximise the worldwide visibility of European research.

Organisations too are lending their support, with the most senior representatives from over 500 education, research and cultural organisations in the world adding their weight to the petition, including CERN, the UK’s Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the Italian Rector’s Conference, the Royal Netherlands Academy for Arts & Sciences (KNAW) and the Swiss Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences (SAGW), alongside the petition’s sponsors, SPARC Europe, JISC, the SURF Foundation, the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Danish Electronic Research Library (DEFF).

The petition calls on the EC to formally endorse the recommendations outlined in the EC-commissioned Study on the Economic and Technical Evolution of the Scientific Publication Markets of Europe.  Published in early 2006, the study made a number of important recommendations to help ensure the widest possible readership for scholarly articles.  In particular, the first recommendation called for ‘Guaranteed public access to publicly-funded research results shortly after publication’.

The EC will host a meeting in Brussels in February to discuss its position regarding widening access and the petition is intended to convey the overwhelming level of public support for the recommendations of the EC study.

JISC Executive Secretary Dr Malcolm Read, said: ‘Maximising public investment in European research and making more widely available its outputs are key priorities for the European Union as it seeks to enhance the global standing of European research and compete in a global market. JISC is proud to be sponsoring a petition which seeks these vital goals and which has already attracted such widespread support.’

One of the petition’s signatories, Richard J Roberts, Nobel Prize winner for Physiology or Medicine in 1993, said: “Open access to the published scientific literature is one of the most desirable goals of our current scientific enterprise. Since most science is supported by taxpayers it is unreasonable that they should not have immediate and free access to the results of that research. Furthermore, for the research community the literature is our lifeblood. By impeding access through subscriptions and then fragmenting the literature among many different publishers, with no central source, we have allowed the commercial sector to impede progress. It is high time that we rethought the model and made sure that everyone had equal and unimpeded access to the whole literature. How can we do cutting edge research if we don’t know where the cutting edge is?”

The petition is available at: www.ec-petition.eu

The EC-commissioned Study on the Economic and Technical Evolution of the Scientific Publication Markets of Europe is available here.

The petition is sponsored by JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee, UK), SURF (Netherlands), SPARC Europe, DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Germany), DEFF (Danmarks Elektroniske Fag- og Forskningsbibliotek, Denmark).

Posted on by mklang

BSD license question

Brendan Scott of Open Source Law has written and posted an interesting article on Groklaw. The article posits that this is a broad misconception about the freedoms granted by the BSD license. In particular that code licensed under the BSD is not re-licensable (after modifications to the code) under “closed source” licenses as commonly believed (article in pdf).

From the arguments presented four consequences may be drawn

(a) the BSD appears to require that modifications be distributed only under the terms of the BSD, and that this requirement therefore cascades down to subsequent generations of code;

(b) the license does not appear to permit the relicensing of BSD code under the terms of any other license, at least in so far as any restrictions in other licenses would seem not to be binding;

(c) there may be some scope for arguing that the term â??modificationâ?? to the code is restricted or limited in some fashion. However, as the license only permits redistribution of â??modificationsâ?? the BSD does not permit the redistribution of any derivative work which is not a modification;

(d) the BSD does not have a requirement for the distribution of source code. It is not clear whether this means there is a deficiency in the Open Source Definition.

Posted on by mklang

Sweet Spot

Sitting at the airport waiting for my flight to Belgium and I found an open network. My mac asked me nicely if I wanted to join a network which I recognised as the pay per surf that the airport charges – I declined. Then I saw a network which I had never heard of, joined and presto! I am online.

Finding a sweet spot in business areas is kind of like finding a four-leaf clover – much too rare.

I’m early so I have a bit of a wait but I am looking forward to leaving the eternally raining city of Göteborg to see something new. The city of Namur seems to be an old and beautiful medieval city so I shall hopefully have some time to do some sightseeing. I shall definitely go an visit the citadelle.

Apparently Namur and Sweden have a connection through Blanche of Namur. Apparently Magnus II Eriksson, king of Sweden and Norway, met her in the summer of 1334 while on his way for a holiday in France (looking for a wife). Two years later they married in Stockholm and Blanche was crowned queen of Norway, Sweden and Scania.

The things you learn on the web…

Posted on by mklang

The horror, the horror

After a serious review of my library the stark realization that something must be done has finally arrived. Some of the books have been donated to causes, some have actually been thrown away (this post is entitled â??the horrorâ??).

Then to finish the list of things that can be done to books â?? here is a list of books that are being given away. Just add a comment of which books you would prefer and I will send them to you.

Alfred Basil Lubbock â?? The Log of the Cutty Sark

The Memoirs of Field Marshall Kesselring

Karateâ??s History and traditions â?? Bruce A. Haines

Kreuger: Genius & Swindler â?? Robert Shaplen

The Condition of Modernity â?? David Harvey

The Philosophy of Schopenhauer â?? Edited Irwin Edman

The Gay Science â?? Fredrich Neitzsche

The Age of Capital â?? E. J. Hobsbawm

This is a totally odd list. Looking at it now makes me wonder what kind of library I have. Actually have, Since I am getting rid of these books…

Posted on by mklang

Technology AS resistance

For a long time the dominant player in the personal computer market has been Microsoft. This has created a de facto standard among users who have come to expect and tolerate certain technological standards (and flaws) from their computers. One of the results of this dominance, among computer users, is the usersâ?? ability to praise diversity in principle but expect conformity from their computers.

If we all use the same tools we will produce the same limited range of products. Naturally there is a great variation within these products but still it is a freedom with limitations. One example of this is our perception of learning â?? at many (most?) universities today, when we say the word lecture most students and teachers think powerpoint. Therefore education becomes bullet-point lists. (more on powerpoint/eductation here: Do you hand out your handouts?).

But there is a technological resistance. Not to Microsoft. But a resistance to the current software ownership models which make it impossible (legally and sometimes technically) for users to

Run their software for any purpose
Study and adapt software to their needs
Redistribute, so others can be helped by such adaptions
Release improvements to the benefit of all

These four points are collectively known as the Four Freedoms and form the fundamental philosophy of the Free Software Foundation. The FSF works to provide software that fulfills such conditions.

Now many users argue that they are not competent to make changes to their software and therefore do not see the purpose of caring about such goals. This is a shortsighted outlook. The Four Freedoms grant others the ability to make changes. As non-techies all we have to do is reap the rewards of their labour. But without the freedom for them to make changes â?? we would have no rewards to reap.

Examples of Free Software are too numerous to list. But here are a few: Gnu/Linux operating system (comes in many different versions for example Ubuntu), Firefox (an internet browser), Thunderbird (an email client), GIMP (picture editing tool), Open Office (Office package with all you need), WordPress (the software that drives this blog) and much, much moreâ?¦

The software is free (fulfills the four freedoms) and is available at no cost. This is technology AS resistance.

Posted on by mklang

Torrent BBC

The BBC must be seen as being among the avant garde of television today. Not too long ago they opened up their archives under licenses similar to Creative Commons licenses (Look at the Creative Archive License Group). In doing this they were ahead of their time.

Now they have decided to make â??hundredsâ?? of episodes of BBC programmes via bittorrent.

By doing this the BBC once again show that they â??getâ?? technology. While in Sweden the term file-sharing is becoming synonymous with illegal action the BBCâ??s deal with Azareus shows that they can recognize a superior distribution system when they see one.

The new deal means that users of the software will be able to download high-quality versions of BBC programmes, including Red Dwarf, Doctor Who and the League of Gentleman. Classic series such as Fawlty Towers will also be available through a BBC “channel”. BBC News

Naturally the BBC is not into giving away these top titles (you didnâ??t think it would be that good â?? did you?) No, the titles will be protected by digital rights management software to prevent the programmes being traded illegally on the internet.

The BBC might carry the nickname Auntie Beeb but all I can say is that I wish my Swedish public service relatives were as creative.

(via Boing Boing)

Posted on by mklang

The Sting, or why suckers happily pay

Much of the visible focus of the Free Software vs Proprietary Software discussion revolves around products such as the browser, or the operating system. But what really gets me depressed is the fact that my own faculty has chosen to use proprietary software (the Norwegian Fronter) as their course management system. The best thing is that none of the teachers are particularly happy with this choice. But I doubt that anyone is ever happy about software.

But the fact that we have chosen proprietary software which we cannot develop (even if we wanted to) increases the sense of: â??No, no please let us pay for the privilege of being unhappy with software we cannot improve.â??

UPDATE: The system our faculty uses is the Open Source system called Fronter. The fact is that we have the legal technical ability to make changes to the system. The faculty have contributed in the past (Thank you, Aleksander!). The lack of understanding about this among the teachers (me included) can only be seen as a lack of internal communication.

Just to make sure that I maintain that unhappy feeling â?? UCLA have decided to rub salt into my wound. The UCLA have decided to adopt the Moodle as their sole course management system. Moodle is licensed under the GNU General Public License and is under active development in collaboration by universities all over the world.

Moodle is a course management system (CMS) – a free, Open Source software package designed using sound pedagogical principles, to help educators create effective online learning communities. You can download and use it on any computer you have handy (including webhosts), yet it can scale from a single-teacher site to a 50,000-student University.

If my own department is too dumb to see the merits of this argument then what hope is there for Free Software? People seem to want to be part of the P. T. Barnum worldview “There’s a sucker born every minute…and two to take ’em.” But why do I have to work with the ones who want to be conned and pay happily for the privilege?

The misleading title of this post may suggest that I have an answer to this question beyond human stupidity. But I don’t – or maybe I am just tired and cranky?

Posted on by mklang

Internet as Democracy

Among the many misconceptions about internet communication is the democratizing effect.

This myth begins with the idea of the marketplace of ideas. This is fundamentally an idea that as long as ideas are allowed to freely compete the best idea will emerge. This is a myth since it does not explain why bad ideas and regimes gain in power. If we add to this the techno-optimism of the early internet (which is still sometimes present) which put forward ideas such as John Gilmoreâ??s famous quote: â??The Net treats censorship as a defect and routes around it.â?? Similar sentiments were reflected in Yochai Benklerâ??s new book â??The Wealth of Networksâ?? (download as pdf here).

These sentiments are overly optimistic and mythical since the reality is far less utopian. It is important to understand the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web.

Stated simply the Internet is all the hardware and cables which connects the world of computers. The Internet is the necessary technology on which different applications can be run. The World Wide Web (WWW) is one such application which is run on the Internet. eMail is another. Filesharing is another etc. You can have file-sharing without the WWW but you cannot have any of the applications without the Internet.

Since the Internet is based on physical cables and physical equipment. Technical, social, economic and legal pressure can ensure that regulation (both good and bad) can be applied to the Internet. Thus we can see that Internet censorship is a growing phenomena. Among those studying and reporting on this phenomena are the Reporters without Borders and the Open Net Initiative.

What their work clearly shows is that by using a mix of hi-tech and low-tech states are ensuring that the Internet is not an automatic democratizing tool.

Posted on by mklang

Tomorrow itâ??s back on the rails again. I am off to Stockholm to meet family and then to do some work early on Monday. The three-hour trip to Stockholm is becoming a very common occurrence lately but I donâ??t mind I enjoy train travel. Also the train has power outlets at all seats and wifi. All this means that I can surf while traveling at 200 km/hour.

On Monday I shall meet with people from Solidaritetshuset (Solidarity House) to discuss how the FSFE can help with their plans for holding seminars and training courses in Free Software and developing an open archive for their material.

Posted on by mklang

Think of the French…

Do you associate the French with advanced implementations of Gnu/Linux? Neither did I. But we are wrong â?? the French are now moving ahead in implementing FOSS in government.

Apparently the servers of the French Gendarmes run on â??open sourceâ?? and also the Ministry of Culture. But in June 2007 the PCs in French deputes’ offices will be equipped with a Gnu/Linux operating system and open-source productivity software.

The results of an earlier study showed positive results:

â??The study showed that open-source software will from now on offer functionality adapted to the needs of MPs (members of parliament) and will allow us to make substantial savings despite the associated migration and training costsâ?¦â?? (News.com)

Swedes like to think of ourselves as being technologically advanced (which we are) but we are really falling far behind in the high level use of FOSS in government. It would be an excellent opportunity to take advantage of Microsoft Vista to go Gnu/Linux…

More info: Open source software in the General Assembly (in French), Free Software for the deputies (in French).

Posted on by mklang