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The Internet Archive Is Building a Canadian Copy To Protect Itself From Trump (theverge.com)

The Internet Archive, a digital library nonprofit that preserves billions of webpages for the historical record, is building a backup archive in Canada after the election of Donald Trump. The Verge adds: Today, it began collecting donations for the Internet Archive of Canada, intended to create a copy of the archive outside the United States. "On November 9th in America, we woke up to a new administration promising radical change," writes founder Brewster Kahle. "It was a firm reminder that institutions like ours, built for the long-term, need to design for change. For us, it means keeping our cultural materials safe, private and perpetually accessible. It means preparing for a web that may face greater restrictions. It means serving patrons in a world in which government surveillance is not going away; indeed it looks like it will increase."

19 of 590 comments (clear)

  1. Well then... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It means serving patrons in a world in which government surveillance is not going away; indeed it looks like it will increase.
     
    Why didn't they start this years ago when Obama extended and expanded the Patriot Act? Sounds like more leftist hypocrisy and hyperbole to me.

    1. Re:Well then... by anthony_greer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      yep...just like all the libs that scream "I'm moving to $Canada-or-UE-Countrey if $Republican wins $Office"

      They never follow thru...I love the Archive, but this just seems purely political and not based on real threats to speech or archival activities.

    2. Re:Well then... by butchersong · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It is simply a marketing tactic. Canada is not exactly an ideal spot to locate such a backup in any case given their hate speech legislation and tactic of slapping very heavy fines on people who might have offended one of an infinite number of gender pronoun protected groups.

  2. Re:Valid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    not really more like sensationalized hogwash...

    If they claimed to be doing it for redundancy sake, then sure completely legitimate reason. To claim its because of trump, now your just grabbing for headlines and/or extra money.

  3. paranoia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Really to protect from Trump? I'm not a supporter, but the paranoid reactions to his presidency are just insane. If that truly is the reason, it is just nuts.

    1. Re:paranoia by k6mfw · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Seems reasonable, Trump is nuts.

      --
      mfwright@batnet.com
  4. Only now? by edibobb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That should have been done years ago. It's stupid to keep something unique, important, and easily duplicated in a single country. The "Trump" point is that some people think he's got a low regard for constitutional rights, and will pack the Supreme Court to this end. This could make it possible (and legal) for the government to effectively revise history by editing the archives.

    1. Re:Only now? by Kierthos · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Considering that the orange idiot thinks that burning a U.S. flag merits prison time or loss of citizenship, I'd say it's a given that he has a low regard for constitutional rights.

      --
      Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
  5. Re:Valid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm firm believer in backups, so Awesome!

    But where were these concerns about "government surveillance" not going away when Pres. Obama was expanding them rather than ending them like he promised in his first campaign.

  6. Amazing over-reaction of the left, like 8 years ag by ageoffri · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The progressive elements have become nothing if predictable. It wasn't that long ago that Obama got the Nobel Peace prize simply for being elected President. Now we have the opposite but equal over-reaction with. Instead of Obama saving the world, we have Trump destroying it. I have no doubt that just like Obama didn't earn the Nobel Peace prize, Trump won't earn the terror his election has triggered.

    --
    -- Slashdot, making the Left look conservative since 1997.
  7. Re:Good Idea but... by johanw · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How about Russia?

  8. Re:Valid by NatasRevol · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You sound a lot like the winner. Who's ranted against free speech, and freedom of the press. And that's just this week.

    --
    There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
  9. Re: Valid by MouseR · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He's elected president. Not dictator.

    Someone needs to remind him during his discourses.

  10. Re: Valid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Problem is Trump doesn't know the difference. He has ZERO clue what the job (Trumps first real life job by the way) of President entails, it's responsibilities or capabilities. There are millions of 5th graders in America who have more politician and global knowledge that this wind bag douche TV personality real estate swindler who has been handed EVERYTHING to him and has never had to work or KNOW anything in his entire life.

    I just hope the Presidential advisors do a good job of running the country for the next 4 years because it sure as hell won't be Trump at the real helm. He'll only be at the helm for photo ops and to complain about the media and everyone bashing on his utter incompetence. Whining like a little 5 year old about everyone picking on him.

  11. Re: Valid by Verdatum · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Lincoln didn't have the power to suspend Habeas Corpus. Roosevelt didn't have the power to send American citizens of Japanese-decent to internment camps.

    Honestly, even if Trump wasn't elected, this is still a very good idea. The Internet Archive is one of the most important sources of information ever created. I think we should put a copy of it on every continent at the very least.

  12. Re: Valid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Trump will be more of a sock-puppet for the right-wing extremist and Demonionist Republicans than anything else. People like Trump can't exist on their own, they only succeed at anything because they surround themselves with competent people who know how to get things done. In the case of the Office of the POTUS, he's surrounding himself with right-wing extremists, has a Dominionist for a Vice President, and is planning on nominating right-wing extremist conservative SCOTUS judges. One can expect this pattern to continue throughout all the appointments he's going to make. These people he's appointing are the ones who will do the most damage to civil liberties, civil rights, human rights, privacy rights, and whatever other positive social progress has been made over the last 50 to 70 years, and like most politicians, these don't even understand the Internet, not really, but they're more than willing to take a chainsaw to the way it works if they think it doesn't fit in with their agenda or their fucked-up, 1940's/1950's vision for America. Also, ironically enough, Trump voices publicly how he wants to tear down the establishment, but meanwhile he's already showing signs of cronyism and pro-corporate/anti-consumer policy. Need I also remind you that he's a very visible representative of 'The 1%'? I and many others have no reason to believe he'll do anything other than make the 1% richer and to Hell with the 99% -- so long as they're cooking his meals, cleaning his house, cleaning his toilets, and otherwise keeping their place. The only real hope the 51% of us who did NOT vote for Trump have, is that the moderate and conservative Republicans in the House and the Senate, in concert with the Democrats, can maintain enough balance and sanity, that we won't get literally dragged back to the 1940's/1950's socially-speaking.

    Asinine people sensationalizing paranoia

    Yeah, sure thing buddy, because Trump and his supporters NEVER do that themselves, do they? Also: Trump apologists. I'd wager at least half of who voted for Trump held their noses as they did it, and said a silent prayer to whatever god(s) they believe in, that he mellowed out and didn't completely borque everything over the next 4 years.

  13. Re:Amazing over-reaction of the left, like 8 years by Verdatum · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Obama got the Peace Prize from the Nobel committee, which is mostly Europeans. Most people on all political sides are still a bit confused as to why he won that thing, beyond it just being a kinda silly symbolic act. People on both sides overracted to Obama's election. There were the ignorant liberals who believed that Obama's presidency was gonna do stuff like halt middle-east conflict and put an end to racial inequality, and there were the ignorant conservatives who ran to gun stores in droves believing Gun-industry funded NRA scare campaigns saying Obama was gonna take their guns and they should all become preppers and build survival shelters.

    The trouble with Trump is that between his complete lack of experience in government, and his continued declarations of clearly unconstitutional ideas, he's an unknown. Most people don't have a reason to be terrified of anything, this is true. However, it gives people an opportunity to take stock of things and do a little risk assessment.

    In this case, I think it's a good move. Not because Trump will ruin the world, but becuase "Oh, hey, now that you mention it, all this really really important information in a single country is a pretty dumb move, because, laws and stuff can change."

  14. Re: Valid by amiga3D · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The only thing you might be right about is the SCOTUS appointments. They are likely to be heavily conservative. Given the choice between far left judges that want to reinterpret the Constitution to mean what they want it to mean thus usurping the legislative branch and the far right who interpret the Constitution exactly as it's written I think I'll take far right. Sure I'd like some Judges like those Reagan appointed but it seems there are no more moderate appointments. We either get far left or far right nowadays.

  15. Re:Wrong by Verdatum · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Lincoln's actions were ruled unconstitutional in the US Circuit Court of Appeals, by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Lincoln just straight up IGNORED that ruling. And when people bitched about this, Lincoln had them thrown in prison too. Lincoln went on to throw a massive chunk of the Maryland Legislature in prison, just to keep them from voting, which is a MASSIVE stretch of the concept of "rebellion or invasion"

    The only reason Korematsu hasn't been overturned is that it hasn't come under judicial review. The actual conviction was overturned in 1983 because the government knowingly submitted false information. The Department of Justice issued a notice confirming that the solicitor general at the time was in error. If the ruling were to come under review, it's generally agreed that it would be overturned. Instead of explicitly overturning it, it just never gets cited as president.

    Even if Korematsu vs. the United States was initially ruled unconstitutional, the president still would've had the power to set up the camps until that ruling (and the other before it) told him to knock it off. That's the concern.