This opinion essay will appear in Greek in the Greek periodical Alieftika Nea
A new Law
The new Greek Law 5179/25, which establishes monetary fines even for end users of pirated content, brought back memories from 1981 when I was at McGill for my graduate studies.
Back then
Back then, to stay up to date with the latest research, I had to visit McGill’s excellent library and go through all the relevant journals to find the articles that interested me. Then, I would either photocopy them if I needed them immediately, or I would write my details on a special card and mail it to the authors to request a reprint of their publication.
Oh, and of course, I would actually hold the reprint in my hands 2 to 3 months later—if the author didn’t ignore my request.
At that time, all scientific publications — from the moment you submitted them to a journal until they were accepted, printed, and distributed through the journal’s issues to libraries — took from 2 years (in the best-case scenario) to over 3 years.
So, whatever material my friend Howard and I managed to get our hands on — since we were regulars at the library on McTavish Street — was research that was already somewhat outdated. This process remained largely unchanged at least until the mid-1990s.
The Internet era
With the development of technology and the internet, publications today are accepted much faster and appear in databases immediately — often within less than six months from the time they are written. Authors frequently upload the draft of their work long before it is accepted for publication.
Moreover, the immediacy of the internet enabled the long-standing demand of scientists for the knowledge they produce to be freely accessible to all. As a result, today, many journals make our publications freely available to the public.
This practically means that the internet has changed our lives. A scientific discovery in the Bora Bora islands becomes immediately known—at the click of a button—to a researcher in Anafi. In other words, in this era of technology and instant information dissemination, nothing stays hidden.
My studies and the new law
You might now ask, what does the law on piracy have to do with my studies in Canada? It has a lot to do with it.
In the old days, to enjoy a new movie of your choice at home, you had to wait several months until it was available on the shelves of video clubs — which no longer exist.
Today, a new movie, after a short initial theatrical run, is released on subscription-based streaming platforms. However, almost immediately, every new film is also available freely online in a Matroska-format copy of excellent video and audio quality. And not only is it available, but someone has already prepared subtitles in every language.
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to be concluded
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