

Publisher Threatens to Sue Blogger for $1 Billion - ilamont
http://chronicle.com/article/Publisher-Threatens-to-Sue/139243/?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

======
kanzure
Academic phishing is real and often overlooked. Here are the articles in
question:

[http://scholarlyoa.com/2012/05/05/omics-publishing-
launches-...](http://scholarlyoa.com/2012/05/05/omics-publishing-launches-new-
brand-with-53-journal-titles/)

<http://scholarlyoa.com/2013/01/25/omics-predatory-meetings/>

[http://scholarlyoa.com/2013/02/12/omics-ineptly-uses-
social-...](http://scholarlyoa.com/2013/02/12/omics-ineptly-uses-social-media-
to-promote-its-brands/)

That blog is hilarious, I often forward him tips from academic spam I receive.
The niches just get weirder and stranger all the way down. What's really
strange is that it seems to work.. someone might recognize this eventually,
and nab some researchers as advisors on fake startups to boost "credibility".

------
rayiner
"In an interview with The Chronicle, Ashok Ram Kumar, a senior lawyer with IP
Markets, repeatedly mentioned the criminality of Mr. Beall's blog posts. In
India, Section 66A of the Information Technology Act makes it illegal to use a
computer to publish 'any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing
character' or to publish false information. The punishment can be as much as
three years in prison."

This is the flip side of the "global citizenship" bullshit people like to
prattle on about--people with incompatible cultures in other countries trying
to influence how you act in yours.

~~~
grecy
> _people with incompatible cultures in other countries trying to influence
> how you act in yours._

Just like what America is trying to do to Julian Assange, Kim Dotcom, the guys
behind The Pirate Bay, etc. etc. ?

~~~
rayiner
Sure. So why would you voluntarily want to add India, China, etc, to the list
of countries seeking to bind you with the stupid laws they have?

~~~
grecy
I don't. I (and billions of others) want to remove America from the list.

~~~
rayiner
America is on that list so long as it is the dominant military/economic power
on the planet. You kind of have to resign yourself to that. You have a choice,
however, in how many other countries are on that list. You can choose to limit
that list by insulating yourself from international frameworks that give
people in India, China, etc, a say in the laws that govern you in your
country.

~~~
grecy
> _America is on that list so long as it is the dominant military/economic
> power on the planet_

Disgusting and completely unacceptable.

You're saying that big strong kids bullying smaller kids is perfectly
acceptable and a way of life.

I pity you for thinking that way. What a horrible outlook.

~~~
rayiner
I'm not making a judgment on whether on whether it's good or not, just
pointing out that it _is_. In the history of the world, the dominant power has
always been able to impose its will on everyone else.

There is no state of affairs where everyone just minds their own business. The
choices are hegemony (for the time being, U.S. hegemony), or international
cooperation via trans-national entities. International cooperation sounds
great until you realize that the Finlands and New Zealands of the world are
outnumbered by the Sudans and Saudi Arabias of the world. Given that most
countries are objectively terrible, I'd much rather live in a world with the
U.S. as the global bully than one in which the "smaller kids" have a say.

~~~
grecy
> _I'm not making a judgment on whether on whether it's good or not, just
> pointing out that it is._

Are you saying we should just accept it then? I'd much rather do something
about changing it.

> _Given that most countries are objectively terrible_

You need to get some better perspective.

In almost every measure for live on the street for the average Joe, America
rates dead last among developed countries, and is often very comparable to
developing countries. [1]

Heath, crime, safety, education, infrastructure, murder rates, etc. etc.

> _I'd much rather live in a world with the U.S. as the global bully than one
> in which the "smaller kids" have a say._

If I had to choose one "bully", I would pick America dead last after every
other developed country.

[1]<http://www.oecd.org/statistics/>

~~~
rayiner
"Changing it" towards what? The practical direction of change would not be
toward domination by the enlightened western democracies. It's not a choice
between U.S. as the "global bully" or New Zealand. To the extent that the
status quo can be changed, it would be towards more multi-lateral frameworks
(strengthening the UN, international courts, etc). And that would be terrible.

While the U.S. may lag on many OECD measures, the fact of the matter is that
there are only 25-35 countries that you could call modernized democracies. But
any practical multi-lateral framework could not exclude the other 160-170
countries, and any framework in which China and India not to mention Saudi
Arabia or Sudan have influence proportional to their population would not be
preferable to U.S. hegemony.

------
Paul12345534
It won't go unnoticed :) Ken over at Popehat picked it up... and it looks like
OMICS Publishing Group's site is having some capacity problems. Enjoy the
Streisand Effect.

[http://www.popehat.com/2013/05/15/omics-publishing-group-
mak...](http://www.popehat.com/2013/05/15/omics-publishing-group-makes-a-
billion-dollar-threat/)

------
smoyer
I think it's funny that the lawyer includes "racial discrimination" ... but is
there really anything wrong with discriminating against criminals, illogical
lawyers (or anyone really) or even just stupid people?

Just because I don't want to associate with someone or a class of people,
doesn't mean I discriminate against them. You won't generally see me in a bar
full of drunk people or a movie theatre full of people watching a chick-flick
either - shouldn't we call this "preference" instead?

~~~
eurleif
Huh? "Criminal" and "illogical lawyer" are racial groups?

------
riazrizvi
If this was a credible threat for the blogger, I suppose the case would have
been brought to a domestic court. Though he probably should exclude India from
his bucket list.

~~~
300bps
>If this was a credible threat for the blogger, I suppose the case would have
been brought to a domestic court.

Even in a domestic court, a billion dollar judgment doesn't hold much of a
scare to anyone that doesn't have a billion dollars.

In most states, anything you have in a retirement account (401k, IRA, Roth,
etc) are partially or totally protected from creditors. Likewise 529 accounts
are partially or completely protected in most states. Some states have
generous homestead protections where you can protect some or all of the equity
in your home. Some states don't allow wages to be garnished except for back
taxes and child support.

Suing individuals is not the road-to-riches that some people think it might
be.

------
diminoten
> For example, just one hyphen separates OMICS's Entomology-2013 conference
> from the Entomological Society of America's Entomology 2013 conference.

Sure, but what exactly are you going to call it? It's an Entomology conference
in 2013, I hardly think the ESA has a "right" to the name.

~~~
Cyranix

      EntoCon 2013
      International Conference on Entomology 2013
      OMICS Entomology Symposium 2013
      etc.
    

At any rate I think you're interpreting the accusation quite narrowly; the
assertion is that OMICS has repeatedly done this and/or performed other
actions that wilfully intend to confuse and deceive (e.g. associating authors
with their conference without permission). The battle isn't being fought over
a hyphen in isolation.

~~~
diminoten
I get the accusation, I'm saying it's an unfounded one amidst much more valid
complaints. I'm attempting to say that there's no need for such a thing.

------
Jun8
"The list now features more than 250 publishers that he considers to be
"potential, possible, or probable predatory" companies, which take advantage
of academics desperate to get their work published."

Right there, the root cause of the problem: If you're "desperate" to get your
research published, it most probably is not worth anything. These academics
are not innocent victims, they usually know that these journals are not worth
the paper they're printed on. But hey, it's another item in te resume.

~~~
HarryHirsch
> These academics are not innocent victims, they usually know that these
> journals are not with the paper they're printed on.

Are the poor sods publishing there supposed to live on air and light? They are
publishing there because the rules of the game demand that they publish
somewhere.

Seriously, what alternative do you suggest? I do agree that there are many
colleges and graduate schools that ought to be shut down _today_ , but neither
myself not anyone else has any suggestion how to go about it.

~~~
Luyt
_They are publishing there because the rules of the game demand that they
publish somewhere._

If I were in such a situation, I would rally up my peers and create some brand
new open-access publisher specifically for ourselves (and other people we
like). And charge $0 ;-) And do Google searches to avoid plagiarism.

~~~
gcr
How is that not equivalent to just publishing on the authors' website?
Everything hinges on reputation.

------
coldcode
I like the 20000 eminent scholars mentioned on their website. Perhaps the
local cemetery?

------
Falling3
Is this reminding anyone else of the whole Oatmeal-FunnyJunk Debacle?

------
jkldotio
Journal publishers are little more than "pdf middle men". They offer less
value than scribd, which is saying something.

~~~
mikeyouse
You should really qualify that statement, many publishers (Nature, PNAS, etc.)
are of very high quality and add significant value to the articles that they
accept.

Many publishers don't add any value at all but blanket statements aren't
helpful.

------
jfb
"Good luck with that."

------
chris_wot
Maybe they meant 1 billion rupees?

------
maeon3
Can India Extradite a US Citizen for violating webpage and internet data
consumption/viewing related crimes defined in India and convict them and get
some fraction of that billion dollars?

Could the Taliban do the same thing if some Americans were found guilty of
educating women against sharia law and be executed?

How much do I need to be researching internet crimes defined by other
countries so I don't get targeted by predators from other ecosystems?

~~~
Paul12345534
From Popehat:

First, if OMICS gets a civil judgment against him from India, they won't be
able to enforce it here. The SPEECH Act prohibits any federal or state court
in the United States from recognizing or enforcing a foreign judgment for
defamation unless (1) the judgment creditor can prove that the foreign court
offers equivalent protections for free speech as the defendant would have
enjoyed in United States courts under the First Amendment, or (2) the judgment
creditor can prove he or she would have prevailed even under the stricter
standards in the United States.

Second, if OMICS seeks criminal charges against Mr. Beall in India, they won't
be able to extradite him there. Like most extradition treaties, the treaty
between the United States and India requires dual criminality — that is, that
the offense is a crime in both countries. Hurting fee-fees isn't a crime in
the United States. Moreover, under these circumstances, the chance that the
U.S. Departments of State or Justice would cooperate with extradition requests
is effectively zero.

------
ig1
Flagged. The title on HN has been specifically changed from that on the
original article "Publisher Threatens to Sue Blogger for $1-Billion" to make
it seem like it's about open access when it's actually about vanity
publishing.

That's exactly the kind of change the "no editorializing in titles" rule is
meant to cover.

~~~
dangrossman
Scholarly Open Access is the name of the blog. Scholarly Open Access Blogger
is the person being sued.

~~~
ig1
That doesn't change the fact that it's misleading and not the original blog
title. HN Policy is to keep original title unless there's a strong reason to
change it.

------
nwzpaperman
He should send OMICS a box of chocolates and a thank you for the free
publicity. It's good to be an American in America!

