Privatization advocates like MaRS and the Liberal government promote SIBs as a “pay-for-success” model. They claim the government only pays investors for successful programs. Yet in backroom pitches and investor negotiations, governments promise investors there’s minimal risk of losing their money. Research has shown governments can’t attract investors without significant guarantees. These include choosing programs with proven track records, using simple measures that are easy-to-achieve, and including contract provisions that safeguard investor capital.

But Aaron’s cause lived on. This September marks the ten-year anniversary of Sci-Hub, the online “shadow library” that provides access to millions of research papers otherwise hidden behind prohibitive paywalls. Founded by the Kazakhstani computer scientist Alexandra Elbakyan—popularly known as science’s “pirate queen”—Sci-Hub has grown to become a repository of over 85 million academic papers.