20 comments

  • mmooss 2 hours ago ago

    > Specifically, the site’s operator and these third parties are prohibited from scraping WorldCat data, storing or distributing the data on Anna’s Archive websites, and encouraging others to store, use or share this data.

    I don't see how that impacts anyone but Anna's Archive. Arguably ISPs distribute the data, but how are registrars implicated?

  • Frotag 2 hours ago ago

    > Specifically, the site’s operator and these third parties are prohibited from scraping WorldCat data, storing or distributing the data on Anna’s Archive websites, and encouraging others to store, use or share this data.

    Given the timing, I assumed it was Spotify trying to prevent the release of their dataset but apparently not.

  • qingcharles 3 hours ago ago

    God knows how much OCLC spent in legal fees just to get it this far, even without any motions by the other party. What's the point? None of the people using Anna's Archive are potential customers of OCLC.

    Just lawyers trying to justify their existence.

    • mmooss 2 hours ago ago

      Also, isn't OCLC focused on the mission of libraries, which is to distribute knowledge? What is their attitude toward services like Anna's, which accomplishes that mission much better than any OCLC member?

      • rf15 a minute ago ago

        because The Mission is making money, too.

    • ls612 2 hours ago ago

      They also wasted a ton of money suing a random Washington state woman who wasn’t even affiliated with AA this whole case has really been a shitshow especially considering from a purely legal perspective the publishers have a point. I almost feel like every rightsholder other than Nintendo wants to engage in performative legal action more than substantive legal actions.

    • kingleopold 3 hours ago ago

      come one, we need lawyers so they can help owners make extra $billions. some lawyers are not humans, they are objects bought with money.literally, no humanity in them.

  • greyface- 2 hours ago ago

    Judgment: https://torrentfreak.com/images/anna-oclc-default-judgment.p...

    Disappointing in particular to see the court validate a ToS "browsewrap agreement", admitting that OCLC provided no evidence that Anna's Archive was aware of the agreement, but still finding the fact that "Defendant is a sophisticated party that scraped data from Plaintiffs website daily" as sufficient to bind them to it.

    • shakna 18 minutes ago ago

      Can that be used as precedent to bind the AI companies that see themselves getting blocked, and then just switch to residential IPs?

  • dartharva 2 hours ago ago

    I don't understand why Anna's Archive has such a convoluted donation system. At first glance it looks like it's trying to push a subscription on you, which is ironic considering aversion to subscriptions is exactly what's driving people to AA in the first place. I found no convenient single-link crypto donate button where I could just send some money whenever I want.

    • simoncion an hour ago ago

      > I don't understand why Anna's Archive has such a convoluted donation system.

      What? It's one page with a bunch of very clear options.

      > At first glance it looks like it's trying to push a subscription on you...

      On the one hand, fair. On the other hand, this is prominently displayed on the donation page:

        Be aware that while the memberships on this page are “per month”, they are one-time donations (non-recurring). See the Donation FAQ.
      
      Additionally, Q&A #1 on the Donations FAQ page are:

        Do memberships automatically renew?
        Memberships do not automatically renew. You can join for as long or short as you want.
        
      Even if we're too busy to read, we can think about how they would manage to set up a recurring cryptocurrency payment without possession of one's wallet keys and become enlightened.

      > I found no convenient single-link crypto donate button where I could just send some money whenever I want.

      From their Donation FAQ:

        Can I make a donation without becoming a member?
        Sure thing. We accept donations of any amount on this Monero (XMR) address: 88gS7a8aHj5EYhCfYnkhEmYXX3MtR35r3YhWdWXwGLyS4fkXYjkupcif6RY5oj9xkNR8VVmoRXh1kQKQrZBRRc8PHLWMgUR.
  • superkuh 3 hours ago ago

    Cory Doctorow has it right. Since the USA is applying tariffs to everyone everywhere anyway, everyone should abandon their US free trade agreements and get rid of the agreement required local laws that allow US companies to shut down others for felony violation of business model.

    • JumpCrisscross an hour ago ago

      > everyone should abandon their US free trade agreements

      Do you have a link to Doctorow's argument? On its face, this is incredibly stupid--for most economies, the cost of losing a FTA is well above any of the tariff levels being discussed.

    • CamperBob2 2 hours ago ago

      Indeed, we in the US are about to find out what it means to voluntarily give up every bit of soft power we wielded in the post-WWII international order.

  • charcircuit 2 hours ago ago

    How does it take more than 24 hours to take these servers down when they obviously are violating copyright. It should only take a few phone calls to get them taken down.

    • fragmede 2 hours ago ago

      Who do you call? The Internet police? Anna's Archive is hosted in countries that don't give a shit about US copyright laws. Pirate bay is back up, and they've been at it for decades.

      • charcircuit 44 minutes ago ago

        The traffic is getting here via another country who has signed a copyright treaty with the US. Just follow the packets.