Internet Archive can never exist in the EU in regards to hosting because they're so egregiously violating basic consumer rights, including the right to privacy and the right to be forgotten. They make it intentionally difficult, and often impossible, to get content removed from their archive (especially if you don't control the domain). They're oblivious to how many violations of personal information they contain within their own archives - by design grabbing content without having any idea what it is - and stand no chance of ever meeting stringent EU laws on such matters including GDPR.
And that's something to celebrate? No, it's something HN nearly universally somehow overlooks in every single conversation about Internet Archive, because they get a pass (the end justifies the means essentially).
Internet Archive should be illegal because it violates human rights.
The 'right to be forgotten' has always been one of the more ill-conceived ideas coming from the EU. Censoring lawful and factual information is dubious in principle and flawed as a means of protecting privacy. Since its introduction, it has been widely abused as a tool to hide misdeeds and embarrassments, to pretend they never actually happened.
European laws are not universal laws. This is like arguing that European corporations violate human rights by not enforcing the 2nd amendment. Which the US considers to be an unalienable right. That would be absurd, just like trying to claim that some particular right you have in Europe is suddenly universal and a "human right".
I'm glad that organizations don't try to cater to every single law in every country. But it's weird that this urge to force their own laws on the entire world seems so prevalent amongst Europeans.
> Internet Archive should be illegal because it violates human rights.
You raise some interesting points, but the kill-it-with-fire solution ignores the great (necessary!) benefits the archive provides to humanity, by protecting useful public/published information from constant churn.
Humanity is just beginning to find its moral/ethical way forward, in this new integrated world of information, by feel in the dark.
In the meantime, its unavoidable that many things will be imperfect balances, and people will disagree where the balances should be.
Because the right to be forgotten is idiotic. Humanity has a right to accurate history even if it's embarrassing to certain individuals. Information archiving is a matter of preservation and continuity of understanding that can live for millennia if we do it right.
British Library archives every publication, print and digital (including websites and social media posts), made in UK. They started to do this before exiting EU.
They don't just do it, but are obligated to do it.
> violating basic consumer rights, including the right to privacy
It's an openly published stuff that was openly available at some point and didn't require any credentials like login and password for access.
It's like pinning a piece of paper on a public lamppost and then complaining that someone wrote the text down and told others.
> and the right to be forgotten
By the way, did you forget about Herostratus already or should I remind you that you must bear no memory of this arsonist who burned Temple of Artemis?
> They make it intentionally difficult, and often impossible, to get content removed from their archive.
I did read about people sending GDPR requests and getting their personal data removed. I suspect that using just "I want this deleted" as a reasoning will result in rejection though.
British Library that operated in EU requires a legal reason for material removal, not just "I don't want this here".
> (especially if you don't control the domain)
It's reasonable to prove the right to manage the data first.
> Internet Archive should be illegal because it violates human rights.
Publishing stuff openly makes it available to everyone. 100% of people. Why do it and then be mad that someone remembered it?
I will rephrase one of the most widely used quotes in American movies: "You have a right to remain silent. Everything you post may be remembered".
And that's something to celebrate? No, it's something HN nearly universally somehow overlooks in every single conversation about Internet Archive, because they get a pass (the end justifies the means essentially).
Internet Archive should be illegal because it violates human rights.