4 ms·

Lawsuit accuses Anna's Archive of hacking WorldCat

86 points by nickthegreek 3y ago

sillysaurusx 3y ago
Honest question: how is a lawsuit filed against someone whose identity isn’t known? Is there a term for it? I’m curious about the specific mechanics of the lawsuit. Presumably the judge would make a ruling, and then that ruling would stick if and when the identity became known. But is that how it actually works? Also, is there a way for Anna’s Archive to defend themselves without revealing their identity?
- artninja1988 3y ago
  >The complaint accuses Washington citizen Maria Dolores Anasztasia Matienzo and several “John Does” of operating the search engine and scraping WorldCat data. So I guess they're accusing Maria of running the site?
  - sillysaurusx 3y ago
    Oh. Well. Thank you for pointing that out.
  - popcalc 3y ago
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasiamatienzo https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasiamatienzo Library Aide Volunteer Mansfield Public Library Applications Developer at AT&T DOJ indictment is coming any day now... then 10-20 years in the slammer.
    - wakawaka28 3y ago
      [dead]
- wongarsu 3y ago
  If you aren't identified you can't defend yourself, which I assume would be an issue. I'd expect that the ruling can only stick for the one named defendant, unless the names of the other accused become known as the lawsuit progresses.
  - wakawaka28 3y ago
    [dead]
  - jessamyn 3y ago
    I believe part of the issue is that the other John Does may be people in other countries (according to the lawsuit) which may add to the issues with identifying and/or charging them.
- Thoreandan 3y ago
  The term I've heard is "John Doe lawsuit" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_defendants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_defendants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doe_subpoena https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doe_subpoena There's several attorneys whose websites outline what's involved.
- devilbunny 3y ago
  IANAL, but AIUI filing a John Doe lawsuit is acceptable because there are statutes of limitations on how long you have to file a suit. By filing a case with an unknown defendant, you protect your right to sue while you go about gathering evidence. You’re still going to have to sue someone identifiable at the end of it, but they can’t argue that your suit is too old (since the reason it’s too old is that the defendant was hiding their identity, not that you weren’t timely in noticing and responding to the infringement).
  - wakawaka28 3y ago
    [dead]
artninja1988 3y ago
So they found the operator because they did some opsec mistakes while scraping? Man that sucks. Now is the time to back up the Archive I guess. Hope some good samaritan comes along as dedicated to the cause as them... Godspeed Anna, you've been incredibly helpful in setting information free
- gpm 3y ago
  They claim to have found the operator... The evidence they present for that is that she wrote a python library to interact with their websites (or in their words "developed a repository for a python module for interacting with OCLC's WorldCat(r) Affiliate web services"). Also that she worked for a competitor, describes herself as an archivist, and has publicly stated that libraries and archives should be open and publicly available. It's not exactly convincing evidence that she's involved with Anna's Archive IMHO.
  - justonenote 3y ago
    [dead]
  - chefandy 3y ago
    As a former library developer, I've written all sorts of little bits like that for all sorts of archives and databases and publicly supported open access. If that's really all they've got, it's pretty light. I imagine they've at least got some sort of access logs, surreptitiously viewed conversations about it, or something similar.
  - hruzgar 3y ago
    They probably found her identity a different way but only show this to the public (she most likely is 'Anna')
    - toyg 3y ago
      That's just your speculation. This is not the FBI or NSA, it's a private company doing some random homework. They could well have got it wrong.
okasaki 3y ago
It says scraping. I thought scraping was legal?
- uberman 3y ago
  "In addition to harvesting data from WorldCat.org, the defendants are also accused of obtaining and using credentials of a member library to access WorldCat Discovery Services. This opened the door to yet more detailed records that are not available on WorldCat.org."
  - throwup238 3y ago
    AKA they used their library card number to login via their public library. At least that's how it works with my local library.
wongarsu 3y ago
So in essence another "is scraping a cyberattack" suit, along with asking for damages because their hard work is now available for free. The interesting thing here is imho that WorldCat is that WorldCat is a bibliographic database, mostly listing the collections of OCLC members, along with other information about these works. Obviously this information takes work to collect and organize, and that's what the membership fees are for. But for financial harm to come to OCLC (beyond the costs of being scraped) it seems to me that libraries would have to decide that they don't want to pay membership fees and instead use the scraped, less up-to-date version of the catalog? How likely is that to actually happen at any scale?
- fsckboy 3y ago
  between "scraping is cyberattack" and "damages" is "Lists, Directories, and Databases" generally do not fall "Under Copyright Law" from https://www.justia.com/intellectual-property/copyright/lists-directories-and-databases/ https://www.justia.com/intellectual-property/copyright/lists... A work must have at least a minimal amount of creativity to get copyright protection. This can pose a barrier to copyrighting compilations of facts, such as lists, directories, and databases. The information in them is not original, but they still may receive protection if the people who compiled them used some creativity in the process of selecting or arranging the information. This does not mean that the selection process must be unprecedented or bizarre, but it should not be so mechanical that it required no thought. For example, a telephone directory likely will not receive copyright protection because listing the names in alphabetical order does not show enough creativity. (The Supreme Court reviewed this situation in the main case discussing copyrights for lists and directories.) ... Many lists are similar to the telephone directory example considered by the Supreme Court. These include mailing lists, membership and subscriber lists, street addresses, and directories that list the contact information for certain groups of people, such as college alumni. In most cases, copyright will not be appropriate for these lists because they are arranged in an obvious manner. They are typically arranged alphabetically or numerically, and the people compiling the list do not choose which items to include. Moreover, a mailing list of people who made political contributions that was organized by zip code was found to lie outside the boundaries of copyright protection. ... Factory and store inventories do not receive copyright protection. They are meant to be comprehensive, so no choice is involved in compiling their content. Also, they are generally arranged in alphabetical or numerical order. Businesses may be able to protect their inventories as trade secrets instead. This lawsuit is for tortious interference with prospective business relationships "Plaintiff OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc (“OCLC”) brought suit against Defendants Clarivate, Plc; Clarivate Analytics (US) LLC; ProQuest, LLC; and Ex Libris (USA), Inc. Alleging that Defendants are tortiously interfering and conspiring to tortiously interfere with its contractual relationships and tortiously interfering and conspiring to tortiously interfere with its prospective business relationships. This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff’s motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, Doc. 4." from https://librarytechnology.org/docs/27467.pdf https://librarytechnology.org/docs/27467.pdf
lupusreal 3y ago
Based Anna, absolute queen.
mindslight 3y ago
I've fallen behind and haven't really been keeping up with the newest digital institutions, but this article has given me some great pointers for digital libraries to investigate when I've got the time or need. Thank you, OCLC!
alberto180 3y ago
[dead]
ertyok 3y ago
Interestingly if you run a textual analysis comparing what the accused has written and what 'Anna' has written in various forums (including this one), there are some similarities that would be difficult to otherwise explain. So it seems likely they have found the culprit.
- alchemist1e9 3y ago
  I think original name might be Mark Matienzo who is the 2012 winner of Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award from Society of American Archivists [0] and reported here [1] where you can find a picture. This can be discovered by reading the Professional Bio at https://matienzo.org/ https://matienzo.org/ which appears to be owned by the individual named as the defendant. [0] https://www2.archivists.org/governance/handbook/section12-emerging-leader https://www2.archivists.org/governance/handbook/section12-em... [1] https://www.infodocket.com/2013/11/20/mark-matienzo-named-digital-public-library-of-america-dpla-director-of-technology/ https://www.infodocket.com/2013/11/20/mark-matienzo-named-di...
pilimi_anna 3y ago
Appreciate the concern! We're not making any public statements about this lawsuit but rest assured we're fine.
alchemist1e9 3y ago
[dead]
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

86 points by nickthegreek 3y ago

Honest question: how is a lawsuit filed against someone whose identity isn’t known? Is there a term for it? I’m curious about the specific mechanics of the lawsuit. Presumably the judge would make a ruling, and then that ruling would stick if and when the identity became known. But is that how it actually works? Also, is there a way for Anna’s Archive to defend themselves without revealing their identity?

artninja1988 3y ago
>The complaint accuses Washington citizen Maria Dolores Anasztasia Matienzo and several “John Does” of operating the search engine and scraping WorldCat data. So I guess they're accusing Maria of running the site?
- sillysaurusx 3y ago
  Oh. Well. Thank you for pointing that out.
- popcalc 3y ago
  https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasiamatienzo https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasiamatienzo Library Aide Volunteer Mansfield Public Library Applications Developer at AT&T DOJ indictment is coming any day now... then 10-20 years in the slammer.
  - wakawaka28 3y ago
    [dead]
wongarsu 3y ago
If you aren't identified you can't defend yourself, which I assume would be an issue. I'd expect that the ruling can only stick for the one named defendant, unless the names of the other accused become known as the lawsuit progresses.
- wakawaka28 3y ago
  [dead]
- jessamyn 3y ago
  I believe part of the issue is that the other John Does may be people in other countries (according to the lawsuit) which may add to the issues with identifying and/or charging them.
Thoreandan 3y ago
The term I've heard is "John Doe lawsuit" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_defendants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_defendants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doe_subpoena https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doe_subpoena There's several attorneys whose websites outline what's involved.
devilbunny 3y ago
IANAL, but AIUI filing a John Doe lawsuit is acceptable because there are statutes of limitations on how long you have to file a suit. By filing a case with an unknown defendant, you protect your right to sue while you go about gathering evidence. You’re still going to have to sue someone identifiable at the end of it, but they can’t argue that your suit is too old (since the reason it’s too old is that the defendant was hiding their identity, not that you weren’t timely in noticing and responding to the infringement).
- wakawaka28 3y ago
  [dead]

artninja1988 3y ago

So they found the operator because they did some opsec mistakes while scraping? Man that sucks. Now is the time to back up the Archive I guess. Hope some good samaritan comes along as dedicated to the cause as them... Godspeed Anna, you've been incredibly helpful in setting information free

gpm 3y ago
They claim to have found the operator... The evidence they present for that is that she wrote a python library to interact with their websites (or in their words "developed a repository for a python module for interacting with OCLC's WorldCat(r) Affiliate web services"). Also that she worked for a competitor, describes herself as an archivist, and has publicly stated that libraries and archives should be open and publicly available. It's not exactly convincing evidence that she's involved with Anna's Archive IMHO.
- justonenote 3y ago
  [dead]
- chefandy 3y ago
  As a former library developer, I've written all sorts of little bits like that for all sorts of archives and databases and publicly supported open access. If that's really all they've got, it's pretty light. I imagine they've at least got some sort of access logs, surreptitiously viewed conversations about it, or something similar.
- hruzgar 3y ago
  They probably found her identity a different way but only show this to the public (she most likely is 'Anna')
  - toyg 3y ago
    That's just your speculation. This is not the FBI or NSA, it's a private company doing some random homework. They could well have got it wrong.

okasaki 3y ago

It says scraping. I thought scraping was legal?

uberman 3y ago
"In addition to harvesting data from WorldCat.org, the defendants are also accused of obtaining and using credentials of a member library to access WorldCat Discovery Services. This opened the door to yet more detailed records that are not available on WorldCat.org."
- throwup238 3y ago
  AKA they used their library card number to login via their public library. At least that's how it works with my local library.

wongarsu 3y ago

So in essence another "is scraping a cyberattack" suit, along with asking for damages because their hard work is now available for free. The interesting thing here is imho that WorldCat is that WorldCat is a bibliographic database, mostly listing the collections of OCLC members, along with other information about these works. Obviously this information takes work to collect and organize, and that's what the membership fees are for. But for financial harm to come to OCLC (beyond the costs of being scraped) it seems to me that libraries would have to decide that they don't want to pay membership fees and instead use the scraped, less up-to-date version of the catalog? How likely is that to actually happen at any scale?

fsckboy 3y ago
between "scraping is cyberattack" and "damages" is "Lists, Directories, and Databases" generally do not fall "Under Copyright Law" from https://www.justia.com/intellectual-property/copyright/lists-directories-and-databases/ https://www.justia.com/intellectual-property/copyright/lists... A work must have at least a minimal amount of creativity to get copyright protection. This can pose a barrier to copyrighting compilations of facts, such as lists, directories, and databases. The information in them is not original, but they still may receive protection if the people who compiled them used some creativity in the process of selecting or arranging the information. This does not mean that the selection process must be unprecedented or bizarre, but it should not be so mechanical that it required no thought. For example, a telephone directory likely will not receive copyright protection because listing the names in alphabetical order does not show enough creativity. (The Supreme Court reviewed this situation in the main case discussing copyrights for lists and directories.) ... Many lists are similar to the telephone directory example considered by the Supreme Court. These include mailing lists, membership and subscriber lists, street addresses, and directories that list the contact information for certain groups of people, such as college alumni. In most cases, copyright will not be appropriate for these lists because they are arranged in an obvious manner. They are typically arranged alphabetically or numerically, and the people compiling the list do not choose which items to include. Moreover, a mailing list of people who made political contributions that was organized by zip code was found to lie outside the boundaries of copyright protection. ... Factory and store inventories do not receive copyright protection. They are meant to be comprehensive, so no choice is involved in compiling their content. Also, they are generally arranged in alphabetical or numerical order. Businesses may be able to protect their inventories as trade secrets instead. This lawsuit is for tortious interference with prospective business relationships "Plaintiff OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc (“OCLC”) brought suit against Defendants Clarivate, Plc; Clarivate Analytics (US) LLC; ProQuest, LLC; and Ex Libris (USA), Inc. Alleging that Defendants are tortiously interfering and conspiring to tortiously interfere with its contractual relationships and tortiously interfering and conspiring to tortiously interfere with its prospective business relationships. This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff’s motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, Doc. 4." from https://librarytechnology.org/docs/27467.pdf https://librarytechnology.org/docs/27467.pdf

lupusreal 3y ago

Based Anna, absolute queen.

mindslight 3y ago

I've fallen behind and haven't really been keeping up with the newest digital institutions, but this article has given me some great pointers for digital libraries to investigate when I've got the time or need. Thank you, OCLC!

alberto180 3y ago

[dead]

ertyok 3y ago

Interestingly if you run a textual analysis comparing what the accused has written and what 'Anna' has written in various forums (including this one), there are some similarities that would be difficult to otherwise explain. So it seems likely they have found the culprit.

alchemist1e9 3y ago
I think original name might be Mark Matienzo who is the 2012 winner of Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award from Society of American Archivists [0] and reported here [1] where you can find a picture. This can be discovered by reading the Professional Bio at https://matienzo.org/ https://matienzo.org/ which appears to be owned by the individual named as the defendant. [0] https://www2.archivists.org/governance/handbook/section12-emerging-leader https://www2.archivists.org/governance/handbook/section12-em... [1] https://www.infodocket.com/2013/11/20/mark-matienzo-named-digital-public-library-of-america-dpla-director-of-technology/ https://www.infodocket.com/2013/11/20/mark-matienzo-named-di...

pilimi_anna 3y ago

Appreciate the concern! We're not making any public statements about this lawsuit but rest assured we're fine.

alchemist1e9 3y ago

[dead]

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]