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There's an easy solution to this: just move hosting to and register in the Marshall Islands where there is effectively no copyright enforcement. It is difficult

There's an easy solution to this: just move hosting to and register in the Marshall Islands where there is effectively no copyright enforcement. It is difficult to threaten someone with a lawsuit when the law they cite is not enforced.

criddell 1y ago
Moving the IA to the Marshall Islands is your idea of an easy solution?
roywiggins 1y ago
The Internet Archive has substantial physical presence in the United States: https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/bay-area-warehouse-internet-archive-19858332.php https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/bay-area-warehouse-inter...
ronsor 1y ago
The Marshall Islands does not even have a copyright law.
IshKebab 1y ago
Ha I'm sure their internet connectivity is excellent. And even if it was, you think a country with a population of 42k is somehow immune to political pressure?
RiverCrochet 1y ago
The forthcoming "Block BEARD" act in the U.S. will soon enable rights holders to apply for foreign sites to be blocked (at the IP level I believe) on piracy grounds. But hosting it there long-term would still have value even if U.S. users couldn't easily get to it. Access would be legal when copyrights expire and everything becomes public domain. Therefore, above, long-term means long-long-long-term: enough time for all U.S. copyrights to expire under the current law, which would be about 250 years. This of course assumes no U.S. copyright reform, no expansion of the current copyright law, and that U.S. law/authority/power continues to exist in its current form. Do you think such an archive could be kept alive that long? Here are some potential issues: - Literal piracy (e.g. pirates coming to shore) - Storage of data for 250 years (metal rusts, dvds melt/warp, paper is not data dense) - Climate change - Undersea cable cuts - Nuclear war - Technological evolution (will networking and storage look the same in 50, 100, 200 years)
- lyu07282 1y ago
  > Storage of data for 250 years (metal rusts, dvds melt/warp, paper is not data dense) I would think: LTO tapes are like 20ish years if stored properly, so you'd only have to copy them 10-15 times over the course of 250 years although that cost/effort decreases over time with ever more modern standards.
  - RiverCrochet 1y ago
    Could you keep the drives working that long?
    - lyu07282 1y ago
      For 20ish years stored properly with a few spares, absolutely, why wouldn't they?
  - alexey-salmin 1y ago
    Magnetic media is not optimal for long-term storage: its strength is mutability not durability. Something like Project Silica is much more promising.
signed-log 1y ago
The Marshall Islands are litterally in the Compact Of Free Association with the United States At that point, China is as good as any, for not batting a rats about western copyright, so bad the hosting would be a little bit complicated.

criddell 1y ago

Moving the IA to the Marshall Islands is your idea of an easy solution?

roywiggins 1y ago

The Internet Archive has substantial physical presence in the United States: https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/bay-area-warehouse-internet-archive-19858332.php https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/bay-area-warehouse-inter...

ronsor 1y ago

The Marshall Islands does not even have a copyright law.

IshKebab 1y ago

Ha I'm sure their internet connectivity is excellent. And even if it was, you think a country with a population of 42k is somehow immune to political pressure?

RiverCrochet 1y ago

The forthcoming "Block BEARD" act in the U.S. will soon enable rights holders to apply for foreign sites to be blocked (at the IP level I believe) on piracy grounds. But hosting it there long-term would still have value even if U.S. users couldn't easily get to it. Access would be legal when copyrights expire and everything becomes public domain. Therefore, above, long-term means long-long-long-term: enough time for all U.S. copyrights to expire under the current law, which would be about 250 years. This of course assumes no U.S. copyright reform, no expansion of the current copyright law, and that U.S. law/authority/power continues to exist in its current form. Do you think such an archive could be kept alive that long? Here are some potential issues: - Literal piracy (e.g. pirates coming to shore) - Storage of data for 250 years (metal rusts, dvds melt/warp, paper is not data dense) - Climate change - Undersea cable cuts - Nuclear war - Technological evolution (will networking and storage look the same in 50, 100, 200 years)

lyu07282 1y ago
> Storage of data for 250 years (metal rusts, dvds melt/warp, paper is not data dense) I would think: LTO tapes are like 20ish years if stored properly, so you'd only have to copy them 10-15 times over the course of 250 years although that cost/effort decreases over time with ever more modern standards.
- RiverCrochet 1y ago
  Could you keep the drives working that long?
  - lyu07282 1y ago
    For 20ish years stored properly with a few spares, absolutely, why wouldn't they?
- alexey-salmin 1y ago
  Magnetic media is not optimal for long-term storage: its strength is mutability not durability. Something like Project Silica is much more promising.

signed-log 1y ago

The Marshall Islands are litterally in the Compact Of Free Association with the United States At that point, China is as good as any, for not batting a rats about western copyright, so bad the hosting would be a little bit complicated.