[GOAL] SSRN Sellout to Elsevier

[Andrew A. Adams]

> "The software may change, but you can't sell off a distributed network of independent repositories.”
> 
> I agree, and I think that this is the crucial point. The software doesn’t matter (well, it does matter, but it doesn’t affect this principle). It’s about the distribution of *control*.
> 
> We are truly fortunate to have a global, distributed infrastructure of institutional repositories which are (mostly) under institutional control. This is quite an unusual arrangement these days - and I think we should regard it as precious and inherently powerful in its denial of the possibility of “ownership” by one party.
> 
> We should do what we can to both hang on to this infrastructure, and to exploit it more fully, in pursuit of a better scholarly communications system.

We used to have a distributed system of email and file storage in 
universities, mostly under the control of the institution. In recent years, 
however, a large proportion of universities have purchased loud email and 
file storage services (mostly from Google and Microsoft).


-- 
Professor Andrew A Adams                      aaa at meiji.ac.jp
Professor at Graduate School of Business Administration,  and
Deputy Director of the Centre for Business Information Ethics
Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan       http://www.a-cubed.info/