Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle said that while the nonprofit organization has always functioned as a library, this new designation makes it easier to work with the other federal depository libraries. That, he said, is a service to everyone.
“ I think there is a great deal of excitement to have an organization such as the Internet Archive, which has physical collections of materials, but is really known mostly for being accessible as part of the internet,” Kahle said. “And helping integrate these materials into things like Wikipedia, so that the whole internet ecosystem gets stronger as digital learners get closer access into the government materials.”
Yes, but that has always been the case. If they’re going to do some undemocratic shenanigans, this designation doesn’t make it any easier or harder.
It’s possible I’m wrong about this. I’m just worried. I can’t see anything good coming from tying into the US government in any way right now.
You’re not wrong, but this isn’t “tying into” the US Gov any more than your mailbox “ties into” the postal service by being approved by the postmaster general. Your mail carrier could throw a rock at it, but they could have done that before anyway.