The BBC reports on a study by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee:

It advises the government to consider allocating funds to universities and other organisations to create online repositories where their research can be stored, and viewed by the public free of charge.

This is one solution to the problem, but not necessarily the best one. It is going to take some gradual change to make this happen. What I find refreshing about this story is that it really is an issue to the House of Commons and that the government in the UK is really looking after its own interest, which is to say the public interest, rather than jumping into bed with big business from the outset. The government pays for this research through taxpayer money and the elected officials actually show an interest in looking after their investment. Compare that to the culture of corporate subsidy and handouts we have here in the US.

Of course, who knows what is going to happen with this report…