> some of the money will actually go to the people responsible for producing the work.
As a gatekeeping entity that barricades taxpayer-funded docs behind paywalls (from the taxpayers who funded their creation), the thing Elsevier produces is unethical rent-seeking behavior.
> Sending money to the pirates, though, will only produce more piracy.
Until meaningfully ethical alternatives emerge, folks work with what they got.
As a gatekeeping entity that barricades taxpayer-funded docs behind paywalls (from the taxpayers who funded their creation), the thing Elsevier produces is unethical rent-seeking behavior.
> Sending money to the pirates, though, will only produce more piracy.
Until meaningfully ethical alternatives emerge, folks work with what they got.