Public Library of Science: Journals
No history here, but another example of how the Open Source/ Public Content model continues to grow. In this case, its access to medical and bio research papers. Often the work behind these papers was paid for with public funds. But then it goes into a for-profit publishing house which holds the rights to the printing. This made sense in the old days, when scientists waited each month for journal articles written 5 months earlier to arrive bound and printed on glossy 40lb paper stock. Today, those publishing houses remain, sometimes offering a filtering and referreeing process, but many times even using volunteers for that. PLOS is another step in the Internet revolution.