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AT does many, many illegal things. They copy and redistribute content without permission of the owner

I don't know if AT does or does not do anything illegal but what you have outlined is not illegal per se. archive.org and Google do it too.

But Google do allow an opt-out and follows what AT consider outdated methods of data protection. Doesn't seem that AT is the same.

The old it isn't illegal because bob and joe do it too defense. The behavior of others don't change the legality of your behavior.