RE: Clarification on SERU proposal

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

At Yale, we've had a number of (not infrequent) situations where, 
by virtue of "bad people" finding ways into Yale accounts or 
proxy servers, we will get amounts of massive systematic 
downloads from given publisher sites or journals at various 
times.  When it happens, publishers contact us and together we've 
always taken appropriate action to stop the infringing behaviour 
-- which is generally not from our campus, but presents as if it 
is.  I wish this happened less frequently than it does... it's a 
real concern.

(One could argue that if all information were totally free, none 
of this would matter; but at the least, the incidents can 
helpfully point out vulnerabilities that need to be stopped in 
case these downloaders go after private information.  Or swamp a 
system...  But I digress!)

Anyhow, these systematic downloading situations haven't led any 
of the (growing number of) publishers to take us to court. 
We've so been successful in working together to solve the 
problem.  It is, however, important for librarians and publishers 
to agree to work together in this way, whether through a 
contract, or "best practices," or whatever it takes, and to 
specify how this will be done and what happens if the situation 
can't be remedied.  Ann Okerson


On Wed, 25 Apr 2007, Toby.GREEN@oecd.org wrote:

> I've never heard of anyone getting involved in legal proceedings,
> nor cutting off access. Our position is the same as Chicago's: we
> post some terms and conditions on our site, click-through is not
> required, we only negotiate licenses when our clients request
> one.
>
> Toby Green
> Head of Publishing
> OECD Publishing
> Public Affairs and Communications Directorate