Yesterday, the Public Library of Science, a nonprofit organization of scientists and physicians, launched a campaign to place scientific research in the public domain. Complains the PLOS:
Virtually all of the latest scientific and medical research publications are now available online, but full access is restricted to a privileged elite at large universities and research institutions who can afford the often exorbitant subscription fees. Journal publishers often pocket excessive profits, while most American taxpayers, who paid the researchers' salaries and expenses, are denied access.
To rectify this problem, the PLOS is supporting legislation that "would put publications describing research substantially funded by taxpayer dollars into the public domain."
Read their press release here. It'll be interesting to see how this progresses--and how scientists will react. (Link via The Volokh Conspiracy.)