Internet Archive Designated as a Federal Depository Library

The Internet Archive has received federal depository library status from California Sen. Alex Padilla, joining a network of over 1,100 libraries that archive government documents and make them accessible to the public. Padilla made the designation in a letter to the Government Publishing Office, which oversees the program.

The San Francisco-based nonprofit organization already operates Democracy's Library, a free online compendium of government research and publications launched in 2022. Founder Brewster Kahle said the new designation makes it easier to work with other federal depository libraries and provides more reliable access to government materials for digitization and distribution.

Under federal law, members of Congress can designate up to two qualified libraries for federal depository status.

Privately owned and not neutral

[sinij]

Allegedly, Taylor Lorenz had her internet history scrubbed. This is only one instance we know of politically motivated scrubbing, there is likely more cases like that that we don't yet know about.

What does this mean for copyright claims?

[sabbede]

I was using the Archive to listen to BBC Radio shows (thanks for paying your license fees UK slashdotters!), but they got taken down. If it's an official library now, can they put those back up? It won't affect me so much since I snagged all the Finnemore and Mitchell I needed through even less legal means (thanks again for paying those license fees), but more people should be able to enjoy The Unbelievable Truth without having to deal with YouTube's added ads and general BS.

Re:What does this mean for copyright claims?

[tlhIngan]

I was using the Archive to listen to BBC Radio shows (thanks for paying your license fees UK slashdotters!), but they got taken down. If it's an official library now, can they put those back up? It won't affect me so much since I snagged all the Finnemore and Mitchell I needed through even less legal means (thanks again for paying those license fees), but more people should be able to enjoy The Unbelievable Truth without having to deal with YouTube's added ads and general BS.

The Internet Archive was always a library - they got that designation well over a decade ago, and it gives them a few rights with respect to the DMCA.

The federal depository designation means its a library that can receive government records and make them available to the public. So you can go to one and get access to Supreme Court decisions, for example. And if it isn't digital, they can get a loan of the document and make it available. The Internet Archive is one of the few with a digitization program, so it also means they can request print-only government documents in any library in the system and digitize it and make it available. Sure, the government has its own program but it's often backlogged and other stuff.

The exciting bit might be to get documents from NASA that have be manually requested and scanned - which the Internet Archive might be able to do faster and cheaper and make it more widely available.

Good, now an offshore backup

[greytree]

There most be some right-thinking billionaire out there who will pay for an offshore backup of the Internet Archives's ebook collection ?

They have to act quickly, I fear, before it is all lost to the copyright cartel's lawyers.

Re:

[arglebargle_xiv]

some right-thinking billionaire

Can you spot the flaw in your argument?

It's a start

[quonset]

Can I now have access to the written records of the Senate debates about approving the amendments to the Constitution like I used to have at the National Archives until those records were hidden from public view? Being able to read the words of the Founding Fathers and others about the meaning and extent of the amendments is a great way to piss off a certain group of people.

Nonn-American here

[troff]

... does any of this in any way put the IA more directly under control of the current anti-Science anti-Education administration?

Fair is Fair

[packrat0x]

Kudos to California Sen. Alex Padilla!