In this post, I’ll share with you something that made me furious. Major publishers claim to be private companies, but that’s not completely true… Previously, I made two posts showing the following:
01 – Elsevier is practicing Cybersquatting: [Reddit Post](https://www.reddit.com/r/scihub/comments/uebne4/is_elsevier_practicing_cybersquatting/) and [WhoIs data](https://www.whois.com/whois/sci-hub.org). The registrar says it automatically renews domains. Of course, we believe that (lol). [Facebook post](https://m.facebook.com/Safenames/posts/10169280529940354)
[Let’s ask the registrar if they take it seriously… Of course, they don’t!](https://preview.redd.it/gzdwvkvhwsw81.png?width=1320&format=png&auto=webp&s=7b3c1fe61dac7928df5cf2b6732b99a900de3b56)
02 – Brazilian taxpayers are paying **BILLIONS of BRL** to major publishers; 10 million USD just to AAS. [Reddit post](https://www.reddit.com/r/scihub/comments/uddkk0/brazilian_taxpayers_paid_over_10_million_usd_to/)
Between 2018 and 2022 (up until now) we paid over 150 million USD **just to Elsevier** (That is about 750 million BRL considering 1 USD = 5 BRL). If we do that math with all publishers supported by Brazilian taxpayers, that is over **ONE BILLION BRL (!)** or about 230 million USD in roughly 4 years.
You can verify it by yourself. Just go to the [official website of the Brazilian Government](https://www.portaltransparencia.gov.br/programas-e-acoes/acao/2317-acesso-a-informacao-cientifica-e-tecnologica?ano=2018)
Oh! Before I forget, let’s see how much is the [minimum wage here](https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/en/economia/noticia/2021-12/minimum-salary-will-be-r1212-tomorrow)