Colombian Student Cleared in Copyright Case

A court in Bogotá, Colombia, on Wednesday cleared a biologist of criminal charges for posting an academic paper online. Diego Gomez, a former graduate student at the University of Quindío, faced fines and up to eight years in prison for posting the paper to the digital library and document-sharing platform Scribd. The decision was immediately appealed. Open-access advocates have kept a close eye on the case, since Gomez was sued under a criminal law that was changed as part of free-trade negotiations with the United States.