![\"anna's](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/annasar.jpg\")
Anna\u2019s Archive is a meta-search engine for book piracy sources and shadow libraries.<\/p>\nAnna\u2019s Archive is a meta-search engine for book piracy sources and shadow libraries.<\/p>\n
Launched in the fall of 2022<\/a>, just days after Z-Library was targeted in a U.S. criminal crackdown, its self-stated goal is to ensure and facilitate the availability of books and articles to the broader public. <\/p>\n A few months ago, the search engine expanded its offering<\/a> by making available data from OCLC\u2019s proprietary WorldCat database<\/a>. Anna\u2019s Archive scraped several terabytes of data over the course of a year and published roughly 700 million unique records online, for free.<\/p>\n These records contain no copyrighted books or articles. However, they can help to create a to-do list of all missing shadow library content on the web, with the ultimate goal of making as much content publicly available as possible.<\/p>\n The people behind the site are not oblivious to the legal risks involved. However, they believe these are worth taking for the greater goal; creating a barrier-free global digital library. <\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that efforts like ours to preserve the legacy of humanity should be fully legal, and that copyright is way too strict. But alas, this is not to be. We take every precaution. This mission is so important that it\u2019s worth the risks,\u201d \u2018Anna\u2019 previously told us.<\/p>\n It is no secret that publishers fiercely oppose the search engine\u2019s stated goals. The same also applies to OCLC, which has now elevated its concerns into a full-blown lawsuit, filed this month at a federal court in Ohio.<\/p>\n The complaint accuses Washington citizen Maria Dolores Anasztasia Matienzo and several \u201cJohn Does\u201d of operating the search engine and scraping WorldCat data. The scraping is equated to a cyberattack by OCLC and started around the time Anna\u2019s Archive launched. <\/p>\n \u201cBeginning in the fall of 2022, OCLC began experiencing cyberattacks on WorldCat.org and OCLC\u2019s servers that significantly affected the speed and operations of WorldCat.org, other OCLC products and services, and OCLC\u2019s servers and network infrastructure,\u201d OCLC\u2019s complaint notes.<\/p>\n \u201cThese attacks continued throughout the following year, forcing OCLC to devote significant time and resources toward non-routine network infrastructure enhancements, maintenance, and troubleshooting.\u201d <\/p>\n The non-profit says that it spent roughly $68 million over the past two years developing and enhancing WorldCat records, which are an essential part of its operation. Having a copy of the data publicly available through Anna\u2019s Archive is a direct threat to its business. <\/p>\n OCLC claims that Anna\u2019s Archive unmasked itself as the \u201cperpetrator of the attacks on WorldCat.org\u201d when it publicly announced its scraping effort. This includes a detailed blog post<\/a> the operators published on the matter, encouraging the public to use the scraped data. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n In addition to harvesting data from WorldCat.org, the defendants are also accused of obtaining and using credentials of a member library to access WorldCat Discovery Services<\/a>. This opened the door to yet more detailed records that are not available on WorldCat.org. <\/p>\n OCLC says that it spent significant time and resources to address the \u2018attacks\u2019 on its systems.<\/p>\n \u201cThese hacking attacks materially affected OCLC\u2019s production systems and servers, requiring around-the-clock efforts from November 2022 to March 2023 to attempt to limit service outages and maintain the production systems\u2019 performance for customers.<\/p>\n \u201cTo respond to these ongoing attacks, OCLC spent over 1.4 million dollars on its systems\u2019 infrastructure and devoted nearly 10,000 employee hours to the same,\u201d the complaint adds.<\/p>\n The complaint recognizes that Anna\u2019s Archive doesn\u2019t host any copyrighted material. Instead, it links to third-party sources and offers torrent downloads. The WorldCat data is also made available through a torrent, which ultimately leads to 2.2TB of uncompressed records. <\/p>\n \u201cDefendants, through the Anna\u2019s Archive domains, have made, and continue to make, all 2.2 TB of WorldCat\u00ae data available for public download through its torrents,\u201d OCLC writes. <\/p>\n The complaint accuses the defendants of encouraging users to download and analyze the data. For example, the search engine launched a \u2018minicompetition for data scientists\u2019 and called on visitors to help seed the torrents. <\/p>\n OCLC further highlights that, similar to its own business, the non-profit element of Anna\u2019s Archive doesn\u2019t mean that no revenue is involved. The search engine offers subscriptions to its users that come with various perks.<\/p>\n \u201cFor example, a $5 per month subscription will give a visitor \u201920 fast downloads per day,\u2019 while a $100 per month subscription grants a visitor \u20181000 fast downloads per day\u2019 and naming rights to a torrent file on Anna\u2019s Archive (\u2018Adopt a torrent\u2019).\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Following the alleged hacking efforts, OCLC tried to identify the perpetrators. In their complaint, Maria Dolores Anasztasia Matienzo, purportedly of Seattle Washington, is the only named defendant. <\/p>\n The complaint notes that Matienzo describes herself as an \u201carchivist\u201d and uses the handle \u201canarchivist\u201d. She allegedly works as a software engineer at an AI startup and previously worked as a catalog librarian at a direct competitor of OCLC. <\/p>\n The defendant allegedly teamed up with unnamed co-conspirators. These \u201cJohn Does\u201d are believed to reside in various foreign countries, including Israel and Brazil.<\/p>\n Before taking legal action, OCLC sent cease-and-desist requests via various email addresses and the X account of Anna\u2019s Archive, which has since been removed. However, these notices didn\u2019t result in the desired outcome. <\/p>\n Through the lawsuit, OCLC hopes to stop the site from linking to the WorldCat records. Among other claims, the defendants stand accused of breach of contract, unjust enrichment, tortious interference of contract and business relationships, trespass to chattels, and conversion of property.<\/p>\n As compensation for OCLC\u2019s reported injuries, the company seeks damages, including compensatory, exemplary, and punitive damages. At the time of writing, the defendants have yet to respond to the allegations.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n A copy of OCLC\u2019s complaint, filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, is available here (pdf)<\/a><\/p>\n From: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\nWorldCat Sues Anna\u2019s Archive<\/h2>\n
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<\/center><\/p>\nTorrenting Terabytes<\/h2>\n
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<\/center><\/p>\nDefendants and Damages<\/h2>\n