This is a persistent issue in all academia. I currently have access through a university, but trying to do research without someone paying your way is absurdly difficult. Of course the Internet is all about open-access, and I'm all for open-source software. It continually surprises me that academics don't worry more about this.

Aaron Swartz wrote (tangentially) about this recently: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/disciplinarybubbles

Disciplinary bubbles and the Academic Firewall keep academia needlessly separated from the trials and delights of reality.