BioMed Central sold to Springer?

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

Open access publisher BioMed Central sold to Springer

By Ivan Oransky

Open access pioneer BioMed Central has been acquired by Springer, 
ScientificAmerican.com has learned.

Open access is the movement, recently bolstered by Congress, to 
make studies available for free online, instead of charging 
taxpayers who funded the research (and others) to read them. Many 
prominent scientists have backed it, signing on with BioMed 
Central and a non-profit open access publisher, the Public 
Library of Science.

BioMed Central publisher Matthew Cockerill announced the news in 
an email today to editors of BMC's journals. Those in the open 
access movement had watched BioMed Central with keen interest. 
Founded in 2000, it was the first for-profit open access 
publisher and advocates feared that when the company was sold, 
its approach might change. But Cockerill assured editors that a 
BMC board of trustees "will continue to safeguard BioMed 
Central's open access policy in the future." Springer "has been 
notable...for its willingness to experiment with open access 
publishing," Cockerill said in a release circulated with the 
email to editors.

http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=open-access-publisher-biomed-centra-2008-10-07