5 ms·

Even the press release doesn't do a good job supporting the infringement claim. They just baldly state IA isn't a real library and then hurry back to reiterate

Even the press release doesn't do a good job supporting the infringement claim. They just baldly state IA isn't a real library and then hurry back to reiterate their infringement claims and talk about why infringement is bad, without ever actually explaining how IA's actions qualify as infringement. Looks like palming a card, to me.

kevin_thibedeau 6y ago
Making unauthorized copies of copyrighted material is infringement. That is why you weren't allowed to photocopy entire books before electronic distribution was viable. IA isn't on solid ground here.
- adventured 6y ago
  Nobody in this thread is discussing IA's massive violation of privacy and the way it entirely ignores GDPR as well. They won't survive any serious privacy protections in the US, it'll destroy their archive top to bottom, as they have no idea what's in it and it opens them up to unlimited liability for privacy violations. First their content knowingly violates copyright in an across the board way (they have no permission to copy and republish most of their content), second it's loaded with privacy violations. There's no scenario where IA continues to exist as-is in the future. They intentionally make it very difficult to remove content from their archive, even if it contains content that violates your privacy. IA is one of the greatest privacy violators in the tech space. You won't see that discussed very often, the fans of IA go out of their way to dodge that conversation.
  - ghaff 6y ago
    I'm not sure where you're coming from on privacy. Everything there was public at some point. But, yes, I can't in general call myself a library, scrape any web content I want, and put in on a web site. A lot of people seem to think IA has some special exemption to do so because they're a library (by some definitions) and are, in general, a valuable resource. But really they do it by being a non-profit, voluntarily respecting robots.txt (even retroactively), and generally taking stuff down when asked.
- colejohnson66 6y ago
  You’re missing the point that IA is a library, and, as such, is awarded certain protections that an archival site might not otherwise have.
  - mthoms 6y ago
    Honest questions - Who gets to define an entity as a "library" and is IA defined as such, legally speaking?
    - jimbob45 6y ago
      ...the government?
      - mthoms 6y ago
        Which government? There are 3 or 4 different layers of government. Your snark is pretty unhelpful. And un-called for considering (based on the other comments below) you don't really seem to know the actual legalities involved.
      - chongli 6y ago
        I just spent about 15 minutes searching all sorts of US government websites including the Library of Congress. I could not find any mention of the Internet Archive anywhere. Do you have a specific source that verifies that IA is a library?
        jimbob45 6y ago
        No I just meant that the government sets the standard for what qualifies as a library. I'd have to take a trip to whichever city IA is based out of and check the public records to determine whether or not they've filed for library status.
        joe5150 6y ago
        there is no such thing as "library status". anybody can start lending books as a community, private, or subscriber library anywhere at any time.

kevin_thibedeau 6y ago

Making unauthorized copies of copyrighted material is infringement. That is why you weren't allowed to photocopy entire books before electronic distribution was viable. IA isn't on solid ground here.

adventured 6y ago
Nobody in this thread is discussing IA's massive violation of privacy and the way it entirely ignores GDPR as well. They won't survive any serious privacy protections in the US, it'll destroy their archive top to bottom, as they have no idea what's in it and it opens them up to unlimited liability for privacy violations. First their content knowingly violates copyright in an across the board way (they have no permission to copy and republish most of their content), second it's loaded with privacy violations. There's no scenario where IA continues to exist as-is in the future. They intentionally make it very difficult to remove content from their archive, even if it contains content that violates your privacy. IA is one of the greatest privacy violators in the tech space. You won't see that discussed very often, the fans of IA go out of their way to dodge that conversation.
- ghaff 6y ago
  I'm not sure where you're coming from on privacy. Everything there was public at some point. But, yes, I can't in general call myself a library, scrape any web content I want, and put in on a web site. A lot of people seem to think IA has some special exemption to do so because they're a library (by some definitions) and are, in general, a valuable resource. But really they do it by being a non-profit, voluntarily respecting robots.txt (even retroactively), and generally taking stuff down when asked.
colejohnson66 6y ago
You’re missing the point that IA is a library, and, as such, is awarded certain protections that an archival site might not otherwise have.
- mthoms 6y ago
  Honest questions - Who gets to define an entity as a "library" and is IA defined as such, legally speaking?
  - jimbob45 6y ago
    ...the government?
    - mthoms 6y ago
      Which government? There are 3 or 4 different layers of government. Your snark is pretty unhelpful. And un-called for considering (based on the other comments below) you don't really seem to know the actual legalities involved.
    - chongli 6y ago
      I just spent about 15 minutes searching all sorts of US government websites including the Library of Congress. I could not find any mention of the Internet Archive anywhere. Do you have a specific source that verifies that IA is a library?
      - jimbob45 6y ago
        No I just meant that the government sets the standard for what qualifies as a library. I'd have to take a trip to whichever city IA is based out of and check the public records to determine whether or not they've filed for library status.
        joe5150 6y ago
        there is no such thing as "library status". anybody can start lending books as a community, private, or subscriber library anywhere at any time.