> Indeed, some publishers, seeking to protect their own investment in scholarly work, have authorized third-party agencies to find articles posted in violation of their contractual rights and to issue Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notices that threaten legal action if articles are not removed from the web.

Wow! Really? I am a math professor, and in mathematics I have never heard of this happening. It would strike me as professional suicide on the publishers' behalf: holding a knife to the neck of their golden goose.

It seems that I was not alone in this perception:

http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9958/why-do-univ...

Although I am in 100% in support of Caltech's policy, I would have guessed that the issue was mostly theoretical and that they were only taking a stand on principle. Either Caltech is bluffing, or I stand corrected. I'm not sure which. But in either case, kudos to them.