Internet Archive V. Shell: The Publicity Aftermath

After news of Suzanne Shell's countersuit against Internet Archive surviving by the thread of one non-dismissed claim – the claim that Internet Archive's Wayback Machine web crawler was guilty of breach of contract by ignoring the site's terms of use – hit the cyber circuit, a real catfight hissed and scratched its way across the weekend.

You might call it a "flame war," in the traditional Internet sense, but that's hardly accurate.

Besides the ensuing vitriol, the interesting twists the case puts on Internet copyright law, and the implications of what happens as a result of the case, at the end of the day there are incredible juxtapositions afoot. Specifically, a child has issued a challenge to a woman dedicated to protecting the rights of accused child abusers.

Though one may be hesitant to readily accept Shell's cause – both her countersuit and her response to the "Internet Geeks" lambasting her toe the line of the extreme by demanding punishment of Internet Archive beyond, by some standards, what might be considered reasonable, and by use of what may be considered extensive abusive language in
Yes,
Let's review and clarify. When Shell discovered that Internet Archive had copied and displayed 87 versions of her website, profane-justice.org, she demanded the company pay $100,000 in licensing fees, according to
Flaming, on the Internet and in life, just doesn't win an opponent to your cause. Perhaps part of this is due to the orbitofrontal cortex, the brain's regulatory center for appropriate speech that takes facial and body language cues to control what comes out of the amygdala, or the nastiness center. Anonymity coupled with lack of empathy-inspiring cues from the other side cause this process to halt, according to self-insulting* online community member with what you might call typical 15-year-old rhetoric. Publicizing his actions setting up