One thing that I think is being missed in this discussion is that governments have a responsibility to enforce the laws that are currently on the books. Perhaps more importantly, they also need to be seen to be enforcing them.

SciHub was allowed to operate freely for several years when it was relatively unknown, but to turn a blind eye to it now that it's received mainstream attention would threaten the credibility of the legal system.

I wholeheartedly support SciHub, but I can't blame governments for enforcing their laws. Ultimately, the changes need to happen at the legislative level to update copyright laws, and this somewhere where lobbying local representatives could have a meaningful impact.

Well, yes, there's people who actually enforce those laws, and there are people who write them. I was specifically referring to the latter. But both are a part of government as a system, and so ultimately the system as a whole carries the blame.

>SciHub is just one instance of the broader problem, which is that governments - even ostensibly democratic ones - don't actually operate in the best interests of the governed.

Agreed. This is true for virtually any human endevour. The average person out there can be easily manipulated by those who generally seek power. So I say that the root problem is one of that of people in their ability discern appropriate people to hold power. To make matters worse those who are most suited to govern often are not interested in taking on positions of power.