It's very hard to understand what the Internet Archive thought it was doing with the "emergency library" venture. Whatever you thought of the idea, it was very

It's very hard to understand what the Internet Archive thought it was doing with the "emergency library" venture. Whatever you thought of the idea, it was very clear that the concept was on extremely shaky legal ground, and even more clear that publishers weren't going to just sit idly by and do nothing about it. The IA had to have expected a massive lawsuit, one that it most likely would lose, and one which would bankrupt them. And on top of that, this "emergency library" move has roused the publishing industry into finally attacking the CDL model which they've apparently grudgingly tolerated for a decade. Why risk their entire existence do this? What was so important about it that it outweighs all the other good work they do?