Elsevier believes they have United States law on their side. And they&#x27;re right; they <i>do</i> have US law on their side. That just doesn&#x27;t mean much anymore; it&#x27;s been worn away by decades of conspicuous corruption, and lost most of its respect. In principle, this should be addressed by the US legislature. In practice, academia has effectively voted no-confidence and bypassed the legal system entirely.