Open culture fostering the scientific publishing debate

The Open Culture controversy dates back to the Internet birth. The potentiality of ubiquitous and fast distribution, together with papers digitization, has been working as a positive asset in scientific publishers’ business models, leading companies to obtain remarkable profits out of knowledge.
Other actors, especially researchers and culture producers, have faced this fact appealing to the principles and ideals around the freedom of knowledge both with legal and illegal actions, such as boycott movements or piracy. The entrance of new actors in the controversy has recently caused a change in debate and relationships, making the controversy “hot” again. Our research is aimed at mapping the dynamic balance between the actors and at spotting any possible change in the debate after their entry. The whole project focuses only on the scientific segment of Open Culture debate, and the analysis will be limited to the online part of the controversy.
The controversy itself is based on recursive processes, thanks to which the main debate generates some reactions and new actors start arising, then these actors affect the balance of the debate, generating in turn new actors, in a potentially infinite process.
How does the online controversy regarding scientific knowledge change over time?