Barry, again, I completely agree. It's odd to be joining in a conversation that happened almost three weeks back. Ben ----- Original Message ----- From: "Barry Wellman" <wellman@chass.utoronto.ca> To: <air-l@aoir.org> Sent: Sunday, November 03, 2002 5:37 PM Subject: [Air-l] Re: Air-l digest, Vol 1 #537 - 1 msg
Bram, Interesting idea, but how do we solve the free rider problem?
Despite some assertions on this list to the contrary, it takes Work to put papers online or on a CD. And in a dozen ways, it is a PITA: different formats, authors want to do edits, etc. Even if everyone is well-behaved, it is still Work, and even if it is done by volunteers, it still costs money to do.
Someone has to do it, and someone has to pay for it.
I have been astonished at the contentions of some list posters that they have a Right to these papers even though they haven't paid their club membership -- joining AoIR.
AoIR's dues are now extremely low compared to other professional societies, and even lower for students and those in non-OECD countries. As Steve Jones noted at the recent Maastricht general meeting, just to keep the existing level of activity going, they may have to be raised. To add on to the Work and the expense without contributing dues to the clube -- $25 for students -- seems to be unwarrented, and indeed a bit like asking to get something for nothing.
That's my .02, Barry