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Comment by sbhn | Hacker News Reader

The internet wayback machine is one of the biggest copyright thiefs in my opinion. I hope the proposal considers how that business model works and why it should be immune from prosecution

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Wayback machine is just like a library, one that will keep history of internet for years to come. You have content there, similar to how a library has books.

Shutting down wayback machine will not benefit society, keeping it open and supporting it will.

Edit: If this was a sarcasm that i didn't get as another poster pointed out, ignore above message.

A library has physical books that they can lend out one at a time, which anyone is allowed to do under first sale doctrine. They can't, however, scan a book and put it on the internet for everyone to look at at the same time.

The Wayback Machine is a great resource and relatively few people are going to object to things that they themselves (or their predecessors) put online in public being archived. And the Wayback Machine protects themselves by bending over backwards to remove anything a site owner decides they don't want to be archived.

There are some special exemptions to copyright for libraries but they're probably not relevant in the context of the Wayback Machine.

If I create a site called the "Library of Great Comic Strips" I shouldn't be surprised if copyright owners ask me to take their strips off.

ADDED: To be clear I fully support The Wayback Machine even if what they do isn't really covered by copyright exceptions for archives. "Library" isn't a magical superpower with resect to copyright.

The wayback machine and archive.org should be shut down. We don't deserve such websites. We deserve copyrighted content like Mickey Mouse on pay-per-view.

> The internet wayback machine is one of the biggest copyright thiefs in my opinion.

Ugh, Is Google too then?

EDIT: Misunderstood OP, it appears he/she was being sarcastic.

I read gp as sarcastically pointing out how this would destroy a nonprofit.

> why it should be immune from prosecution

I don't think the parent is raging against the Internet Archive, just pointing out the legal problems of what it does. Strict copyright law will destroy archives.

Libraries tend to have (some) exemptions to such laws, no? And the Internet Archive is recognised as a library AFAIK

Educational or scientific repositories are probably exempt.

Some limited exceptions. Section 108. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/108

But these don't really address digital archives as the Copyright Office recognizes. https://www.copyright.gov/policy/section108/

Presumably the Internet Archive is considered a library, museum, or archive although I don't know if there are specific technical factors that would make them one or if it's more of a "know it when you see it" situation in the event of a dispute.

wait, are you trying to defend internet archive by comparing them to google? it should be the other way around. in the sense that I'd be ok with the archive getting an exception and google (and specially youtube) not.

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