Ironically, the article is published under a non-free license.
So you can distribute this freely, as long as you acknowledge the author. And since it's content, not software, it's not imperative to allow modification. (Fair use still applies to critical responses)
You're being way too picky.
I think this article could very well be a valuable free-culture contribution. The chain of derivatives could go deep, and having to get permission at every step cuts it off.
This is a long-standing disagreement between RMS and those of us who support cultural freedom.