Legal and Ethical Issues

Creative commons is a non-profit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools. This tool provides you the freedom to allow others to use, share or expand the work you have created without worrying about copyright infringement. This is an exceptional idea, as I believe that all information should be free to those who seek it. Knowledge itself should not be sold as a commodity. Why should one have to pay to read a specific journal article while others are free? Most researchers want their information to be read and discussed as this creates new ideas and interests within their respective fields. In the article "Open access research grows in popularity", these sentiments are expressed by researchers themselves. "The coin of the research world is readership". "Often times researchers do not want to make $1 million, but they want one million readers". Studies also suggest that open access research is read and subsequently cited more frequently, this leads to more exposure for the respective works. There are also cases in which researchers want their work to be published in open access but it does not happen that way. If the researchers themselves want their work to be available to the public, why is there still a price tag attached to it? We live in uncertain times. A time in which our education system  has succumb to criticisms on just about every level. Politicians remind us that we must find ways to educate our youth so we may continue to compete on a global market with our competitors. If this is indeed the case, why are we charging students and interested individuals for knowledge? In times where families struggle to make ends meet and put food on tables, who has the extra money to pay for nonessential goods? While the limitation of open access research is not the sole reason for our countries educational decline, it is defiantly problematic. The comodification of education and knowledge in our country severely hinders our growth as a nation. So let it be free!!!!