I use sci-hub all the time, because my institution has a limited library. The entire argument here is a red herring.<p>Sci-hub is a solution that complements open access, for the transitory period after which we expect big publishers to die off. Of course it&#x27;s illegal, just like it is immoral for scientists around the world to use their taxpayer&#x27;s money and their time to pay three big publishers, NPG, elsevier and spiegel.<p>This is pure civil disobedience of the noble kind.