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IEEE bans Cuba, Iran, Libya, Sudan
(06 Oct 2003 at 12:25) |
The IEEE, a large technical organization that organizes many journals, conferences, and standards, has banned any resident of Cuba, Iran, Libya, and Sudan from contributing to or publishing in them. Researchers from Iran, in particular, submit dozens of research papers every year. It's one (arguably bad) thing to impose economic sanctions on a country for political reasons, but it's much worse to be injuring the global scientific community and, moreso, resident academics engaged in exactly the kind of civilized activity that we seek to encourage with these sanctions.
For more information see Shame on IEEE and, supposing you agree, sign the petition.
Free science for all!
While we're on the subject, fuck any journal or conference that requires you to assign your copyright to them in order to be published. (See an example agreement from the IEEE.) Yes, I know this is basically every conference. But the idea that they can legally prevent you from publishing your own work on your own web page, for free, so that they can make money by selling the paper or subscriptions, offends me more than any recording industry exploitation of starving artist imagery to protect their bottom line.
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FYI, This came out today in the Gaurdian http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1056608,00.html.
Hooray PLoS Biology! |
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