X

Internet Archive settles suit against Wayback Machine

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.
See full bio
Elinor Mills

The Internet Archive is off the hook in a lawsuit accusing it of negligence for allowing old Web pages to be viewed using the Wayback Machine, which archives pages unless Web site owners specifically ask that they be excluded from the database.

The case involves two patient-advocate groups in the Philadelphia area with similar names--Healthcare Advocates of Philadelphia and Healthcare Advocate, which the former sued for trademark infringement.

Lawyers for the defendant used the Wayback Machine to get access to old Web pages of the plaintiff. The plaintiff then sued both the defendant's law firm, Harding Earley Follmer & Frailey, and the Internet Archive, saying the nonprofit had archived pages that it should not have.

Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle told CNET News.com on Thursday that the problem was due to a "temporary bug" in the Wayback Machine that allowed the pages that should have been hidden to be accessed.

"This is really a lawsuit between two parties and we got sort of dragged into it and I'm glad we're now out of it," he said.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Meanwhile, the plaintiff's lawsuit against the law firm for allegedly violating copyright law by accessing the old documents is pending.