The Internet's Librarian

In ancient Egypt, the city of Alexandria was a beacon of knowledge. Legend has it that whenever a ship sailed into port, the townspeople rushed on board to borrow every scrap of written material. Scribes copied the information, placed the volumes in the Royal Library of Alexandria, and returned the scrolls to their rightful owners.

This massive library of Alexandria was destroyed over 1,600 years ago, but Internet pioneer Brewster Kahle wants to create a new repository of borrowed human knowledge - online. He calls it The Internet Archive and, like the library in Alexandria, it's entirely free. But Internet giant Google has plans for its own digital library, and has struck a deal with publishers to get around some sticky copyright issues. Kahle’s Internet Archive wants the same protections for its effort to house all the world's knowledge on a non-profit site.

Here to explain is Brewster Kahle, the founder and director of The Internet Archive, an evolving online library of music, film, books and software.

The Economist: Brewster Kahle, archivist and idealist

Ars Technica: Internet Archive wants book copyright indemnity like Google

The New York Times: Opposition to Google Books Settlement Jells

Wired.com: Kahle v. Gonzales: 9th Circuit says copyright orphans stay orphans

(Photo by future15pic via Flickr/Creative Commons)