44 million items in the Internet Archive are available as torrents. It's pretty straightforward to enumerate them, download them, and serve them up in a swarm.
That doesn't make it sure the torrented data is always available. The index is important, but the data and its metadata are much more important.
Right, which is why you want to start getting the data served by seeders outside of the Internet Archive proper.
The Pirate Bay is all magnet links. A model to be considered.
I had not realized that the Internet Archive had 'expanded' into archiving & re-publishing books While that endeavor certainly has value, the risks - exactly these risks - are so large & obvious that it really should have been done as a separate corporate organization. That is what the corporate structure is for - to separate liability. Now, the entire, and very valuable, core mission is threatened by this one projec…
They already had 20,000,000 books (yes that's a real number) available. The ones with Controlled Digital Lending allowed a single DRM-encrusted copy to be loaned out for each physical copy that they owned. This isn't explicitly allowed by any law but publishers hadn't challenged its claim of fair use and a lot of libraries use this technique. What was new with the NEL was just removing the one-copy-at-a-time limit. But the lawsuit is challenging the whole concept, including what other libraries are doing.
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…
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…
There's no controversy here though. What IA did was plainly on the "not legal" side of the line. (I mean, there are surely some people who believe otherwise, but you can find someone who believes almost anything.)
The publishers should stop now that they've taken them down, but this was grossly irresponsible of the Internet Archive to do this, and they brought it on themselves. Releasing all of these copyrighted books for free hurt authors who rely on royalties to live, and it was inevitable that publishers would sue. I honestly don't understand why they did it. They have a responsibility as custodians of the archive to not pu…
>I honestly don't understand why they did it. Its right there in the article. >In March, as the COVID-19 pandemic led to the shutdown of public libraries , the Internet Archive created the National Emergency Library and temporarily suspended book waitlists Public libraries got shut down, they opened a replacement. Makes perfect sense to me.
>>I honestly don't understand why they did it.
>Its right there in the article.
The grandparent isn't questioning the motivation for breaking the law, they are asking why the organization would possibly think it's a good idea given the likely consequences.
Q: "Why do you rob banks?"
A: "Because that's where the money is."
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…
archive.org is a primary target for the book burners. As with any big thorn; they dont need coordination to attack it; it's practically a law of nature. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20623177 Archive team: is there a 101 on getting pages? I struggle to archive the things I want because of the JS interface and the generated data. I just want the links to the original GET 's and source files. Torrents for the lo…
I’d ask on email or IRC. Info is probably on their site but I couldn’t find it yet.
I know only a comparatively small number of people who own library cards. You cannot check out an ebook from the library without a library card. You cannot get a lovely card without physically entering the library. If you did not have a library card when the library closed, or you left it unused until it expired, then you cannot check out ebooks from the public library. Last I checked, there was, I think, 3 public li…
In Ohio, many (maybe all?) libraries allow you to apply online for a virtual library card that can be used to check out ebooks/audiobooks/etc. A librarian reviews the application and approves or denies it within a day or so, and you get an email either way. No need to ever visit a library in person. I'm not 100% sure that this was in place before COVID-19, but I think it was. To check out physical books, you have to…
The Boston Public Library has done virtual cards for years as well, and a BPL card is available online for any Massachusetts resident.
Most public libraries have ebook lending, and there are lots of free sources that don't pose an existential threat to the archive
I know only a comparatively small number of people who own library cards. You cannot check out an ebook from the library without a library card. You cannot get a lovely card without physically entering the library. If you did not have a library card when the library closed, or you left it unused until it expired, then you cannot check out ebooks from the public library. Last I checked, there was, I think, 3 public li…
Only speaking for Toronto here, but the Toronto Public Library very quickly amended their application process to allow you to get a card/membership online. (For any faults in this city, the TPL is amazing)
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…
There's no controversy here though. What IA did was plainly on the "not legal" side of the line. (I mean, there are surely some people who believe otherwise, but you can find someone who believes almost anything.)
Last i checked rosa parks did something illegal too.
Not all laws need to be followed.
And just because some people will beleive anything doesnt make this belief any less relevant or important.
>I honestly don't understand why they did it. Its right there in the article. >In March, as the COVID-19 pandemic led to the shutdown of public libraries , the Internet Archive created the National Emergency Library and temporarily suspended book waitlists Public libraries got shut down, they opened a replacement. Makes perfect sense to me.
If they had increased their lending by a finite amount, matching the number of copies in closed libraries they'd been in touch with, then I could sort of understand an increase in keen lending over their normal levels, as it would not be putting the publishers in a worse overall position. However, as it stands the unlimited lending seems naïve and ill thought through.
So does extending copyright term lengths indefinitely but here we are.
You lot realise IP law is supposed to encourage innovation for the good of society right?
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…
I would rather support organizations that make strategic blunders than organizations which compromise their principles.