Downloading music for free has been met with some resistance by the US government, and for good reason. If the product that one creates is available for free, professors can find themselves out of jobs if we carry the scenario to its extreme. In a more mundane vein, if enrollment drops, income at the school drops. Then, either wages of existing professors or the number of appointments of professors drops. In a very real sense, this removes income from professors. Why on Earth should they submit to something like this?

If Larmour’s point is that even students enrolled in his class can access the information without showing up to class…and that this is a problem…I would say that ideally he’s correct. Unfortunately, the reality seems to be that most students would do about the same with or without interaction, simply because most students do not take advantage of the opportunity for interaction in the classroom and in office hours.

If Larmour’s point is copyright violation, I think that he is exactly correct. If you’re not a paying student, what duty does Larmour have to educate you? I mean, can’t the same argument levelled against Larmour be applied to doctors? Why are they making money? Shouldn’t they be helping people even if no one gets paid? Shouldn’t contractors just build houses for people, even if they don’t get paid? I think the answer, in all cases, is, “No.” And I think you’re asking something unreasonable of academics.

I had a similar problem recently with creating a note collaboration project in which Tech students could submit their notes that they took in class to a website and the notes would be available to anyone who wanted them. The project is still in the works but the main concern is that professors will be completely against it, claiming some sort of copyright violation.