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Various people sent their old tape reels and other backups to Deja News, which compiled everything. But Deja News never made freely available the individual arc

by wahern 6y ago

Various people sent their old tape reels and other backups to Deja News, which compiled everything. But Deja News never made freely available the individual archives or the collection, nor did Google. The oldest stuff is locked away by Google because the only hard copy was destroyed when sent to Deja News. As time wore on most of the remaining fragments that at one point could have been recompiled independently also disappeared. What Google is doing by refusing to publish the archive or even share it with parties like the Internet Archive is completely unjustifiable and anathema to everything they once stood for.

DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
> What Google is doing by refusing to publish the archive or even share it with parties like the Internet Archive is completely unjustifiable and anathema to everything they once stood for. Couldn't a copyright claim (or something under the GDPR or UK's DPA) be used to regain access to those though? Just because something is published to a public forum doesn't mean you relinquish your rights.
- wahern 6y ago
  Copyright is a legal mechanism for restricting others from making copies, not for demanding they make copies for you. Off hand I'm unaware of any general legal mechanism to accomplish that outside of a contract or promise.
  - DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
    That’s why I suggested the DPA which does allow for rightsholders to request copies of data pertinent to themselves - I’d argue that usenet postings would fall under that scope.
    - erik_seaberg 6y ago
      Doesn't that just create an incentive to destroy the archive before GDPR authorities can shake them down over it?
      - DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
        Perhaps - but it also creates an incentive for companies to destroy inappropriately-held and collected personal data they have no business possessing. The DPA isn’t new - it was created in 1988 - and UK ISPs had Usenet/NNTP servers long after that.

by wahern 6y ago

DaiPlusPlus 6y ago

> What Google is doing by refusing to publish the archive or even share it with parties like the Internet Archive is completely unjustifiable and anathema to everything they once stood for. Couldn't a copyright claim (or something under the GDPR or UK's DPA) be used to regain access to those though? Just because something is published to a public forum doesn't mean you relinquish your rights.

wahern 6y ago
Copyright is a legal mechanism for restricting others from making copies, not for demanding they make copies for you. Off hand I'm unaware of any general legal mechanism to accomplish that outside of a contract or promise.
- DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
  That’s why I suggested the DPA which does allow for rightsholders to request copies of data pertinent to themselves - I’d argue that usenet postings would fall under that scope.
  - erik_seaberg 6y ago
    Doesn't that just create an incentive to destroy the archive before GDPR authorities can shake them down over it?
    - DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
      Perhaps - but it also creates an incentive for companies to destroy inappropriately-held and collected personal data they have no business possessing. The DPA isn’t new - it was created in 1988 - and UK ISPs had Usenet/NNTP servers long after that.