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Comment by E2EEd | Hacker News Reader

> Sci-Hub's existence is an international security risk. Even if you believe that China and USA are rational actors who won't use cutting edge sci/tech for malicious ends (a reasonable supposition), the unadulterated democratization of leading edge research presents increasingly asymmetric applicational risk by rogue non-govt actors.

What are you talking about? Sci-Hub provides free access to research that is already published in journals. If some government wants to get access to a paper and sci-hub didn't exist, they can just pay for it or go to a well-funded university library that subscribes in bulk. Sci-Hub isn't like the WikiLeaks of science. They aren't publishing confidential or private research.

Sure, it's not classified research. But, putting it out into the open increases risks as stated.

The problem, more generally, is the willing openness of researchers in high risk areas.

It's already "out in the open" because tens of millions of college students around the world have access. You've shown zero domain knowledge here; just withdraw and apologise.

Is your belief that the scientists and researchers of China or other adversaries wouldn't be able to afford their own journal subscriptions?

These are papers that are published in journals, by definition they are publicly available, you just have to pay the $20-40 fee, email one of the authors, or work at a university or company that has a subscription to said journals.

Where do you get this bizarre idea that the content of these journal is somehow not in the open?

These are the opinions of someone who clearly does not do any research and is afraid of information in general.

As Sci-Hub only publishes already open content, you are saying all rich entities should have access to all the research even if they have malicious intent?

And people with no mal-intent shouldn't have access to research material if they don't have enough money?

Do you even know what you are talking about?

Security ny obscurity doesn't work.

Without Sci-Hub only wealthy and government actors had access to knowledge.

Very bad idea

Obscure knowledge protected by rational actors makes for a safer future.

Never worked in human history.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"

Protected? anyone can buy a journal paper, or email the authors. The whole point of publishing a paper is that it is available to anyone who is interested.

protected -> they aren't. The content is open. Just behind a payeall. The head of ISIS can get access to them if he pays.

rational actors -> what's rational for China or Russia isn't necessarily "good" for American people.

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic, but I upvoted this because that is a point of view I have never heard before.

Sci-hub doesn't leak unpublished data though. It simple makes published data freely available, since the people have already paid for it through tax dollars anyway. So what do you mean?

those paywalls have security implications

You are so very wrong, first of all any western university will train foreign students, so let me assure you that countries like China have the money to buy access to publications (and after that share the journals) but also have the mmoney to send students to get trained. If you are the type that wants to keep science secret then SciHub is a microscopic problem, you need to complain about science being made public and education being available without dracong background checks to prevent "unhealthy origins of the students".

Just admit your wrong, FBI is as always full of idiots and EU isright again to try to prevent our data be saved in US servers for all asholes to open it without any good reason.

Such as...?

So we need to make patents secret too? Kind of an arrogant view to think all the latest hightech is discovered in America. Wasn't it two Turkish scientists in Germany that made the Pfizer vaccine?

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