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An update on Wayback Machine access

685 points · 362 comments · ChrisArchitect

  1. simonw · · focus · HN ↗
    > Here’s what’s going on. The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine has been hit by waves of high-volume automated traffic, and we’ve put protections in place to keep the service running.

    I'm pretty certain this is scrapers that are trying to workaround blocks on accessing original sites by hitting the Wayback Machine copy instead. Appalling behavior.

    In addition to the load it puts on this vital non-profit piece of Internet infrastructure, we've also already seen some sites opt out of the Wayback Machine to prevent their content from being scraped via this alternative route.

    1. packetslave · · focus · HN ↗
      This is absolutely something that's happening. There are even paid scraper API's that offer "Wayback Machine fallback" as a feature.
      1. bsimpson · · focus · HN ↗
        It's an open secret that you can often circumvent paywalls by searching Wayback.
        1. gambiting · · focus · HN ↗
          Every single paid article linked on HN has the way back machine link as the very first comment.
          1. ValentineC · · focus · HN ↗
            The links are usually to Archive.today (aka archive.ph and a bunch of other domains), not Wayback Machine (which is run by Internet Archive).
            1. petcat · · focus · HN ↗
              ehh it's a distinction without a difference. The point is that alternative links are available to circumvent paid access for anyone that wants them.
              1. organsnyder · · focus · HN ↗
                They're different sites, with different goals, run by different people.
                1. petcat · · focus · HN ↗
                  That provide the same functional service....

                  Hence, distinction without a difference.

                  1. mitxela · · focus · HN ↗
                    No they don't. Archive.org is co-operative, it respects robots.txt and allows deletion. It's also very slow. Archive.* is adversarial and archives sites that don't like it. That's why the FBI is trying to take it down.
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