STACY HABERLAND - s44715942 COMU1130 - TUTE THE CULTURAL INTERNET - Educational Resources & the Public Domain A key conflict that has emerged over recent years regarding internet culture and ethics, is the Open
Access (OA) debate. There has been much discourse among academics and publishers alike in respect to the increasing expense of access to published academic works and the impact this has on the integrity of modern research. Key leaders of this movement argue that the subscription models required to access academic resources in the online domain are hindering those who are in need of them most (Djurkovic, 2014). These groups and individuals in support of the Open Access movement claim that the paywalls and sizeable subscription fees used by Publishers are depriving the very academics who produce content through these institutions themselves (Djurkovic, 2014). There is further debate however, around how this issue may be alleviated in a way that benefits institutions, academics, publishers and the general public simultaneously. This essay will explore the various implications and benefits that the Open Access movement can expect to have on the higher education system, as well as the certain solutions that have been proposed in order to see Open Access best implemented. While educational resources are generally considered to be the intellectual property (IP) of tertiary level institutions, the last decade has seen a large increase in the free and open distribution of academic materials to the public (Hylen, 2008). This is largely due to the work of certain individuals such as Aaron Swartz, Alexandar Elbakyan and Science Europe, who advocate for all peer-reviewed academic research to be classified as "public domain". This means that content which is usually accessed through Universities and Libraries that are subscribed to a comprehensive collection of work, is turned into public property (Stanford University Libraries, n.d.). Materials which are in the public domain are not protected by IP laws such as copyright, trademark or patent laws, therefore anyone can access them but no one owns them (Stanford University Libraries, n.d.). The main motive behind this push toward OA is due to the emerging idea that 'paywalls restrict academics who bank on access to certain materials to progress in their field of study'. This is the idea that academia, particularly in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine (STEM) are unable to advance if research is being conducted repeatedly by seperate academics in separate institutions (Djurkovic, 2014). Many OA proponents believe that information must be easily obtainable in order for researchers to be able to produce appropriate studies (Djurkovic, 2014). The second idea that has propelled this movement, is that all educational resources should be "collective works" or 'public
commodities' for the simple sake of public good (Hylen, 2008). As Hylen (2008) describes, OA has the potential to "widen participation in higher education". Hylen (2008) also predicts that more open educational resources will promote learning, especially for perhaps marginalised groups of students, and "bridge the gap between formal and informal study". One of