Activists rally to save Internet Archive as lawsuit threatens site

Post by winkeltripel » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 11:32 AM UTC

beebmam wrote: post #36

ComputerGuru wrote: post #27

I warned about this very outcome when they announced the initiative [0]. The Internet Archive is too big and too important to gamble on this short term of a win (giving everyone free and unlimited access to all books for a few months at most). Assuming the organization continues to exist after this ordeal, their entire board should step down for putting at risk one of the most invaluable archives in existence. I’m an…

For me, I can't help but place blame on the actual agents of its potential demise: the plaintiffs of this lawsuit

Post by rbanffy » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 11:40 AM UTC

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #73

sxates wrote: post #18

I've got a synology NAS with at least 10TB spare capacity I could donate... If only there were a way to use it, and thousands more, to back up important projects like this in a decentralized way.

I keep thinking that the Bittorrent protocol would be an ideal fit for this; specifically, it would need a way to have all peers agree on what chunks of a file they themselves host and share to ensure the most complete copies available. And it would need a system for keeping it updated. I wouldn't mind hosting a NAS in my closet and some bandwidth + storage to donate to the IA. I also think cloud providers - all of t…

Post by saikia81 » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 11:43 AM UTC

nordsieck wrote: post #66

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to establish a legal precedent, you can't just go to a court and ask them to. Courts only hear "cases and controversies" -- to establish what the law is, you have to get somebody to sue you. The reason this could bankrupt them is mostly because they don't have a lot of money. Their net assets are only a couple million dollars. They have to raise more than that every year just to keep operating. But it's a…

> If you want to establish a legal precedent, you can't just go to a court and ask them to. Courts only hear "cases and controversies" -- to establish what the law is, you have to get somebody to sue you. > The reason this could bankrupt them is mostly because they don't have a lot of money. Their net assets are only a couple million dollars. They have to raise more than that every year just to keep operating. Are yo…

Post by watwut » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 11:50 AM UTC

basilgohar wrote: post #54

ascorbic wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you think there were no people at all who downloaded for free rather than paying, then it cost authors royalty payments.

By exactly this same line of reasoning, don't libraries present a loss of revenue for publishers because people can borrow a book that they otherwise would have to pay for and purchase? One book may be borrowed hundreds, if not thousands of times.

Post by leephillips » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 11:53 AM UTC

winkeltripel wrote: post #101

beebmam wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, I can't help but place blame on the actual agents of its potential demise: the plaintiffs of this lawsuit

"Without any license or any payment to authors or publishers, [Internet Archive] scans print books" That's a lie, unless they are alleging that those print books were stolen, they were bought and paid for. That is how print books work, for the most part?