IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Lewis T. Babcock, Chief Judge
Civil Action No. 06cv01726LTBCBS
INTERNET ARCHIVE,
Plaintiff and Counterclaim Defendant,
v.
SUZANNE SHELL,
Defendant and Counterclaimant,
v.
BREWSTER KAHLE,
RICK PRELINGER, and
KATHLEEN BURKE
Third Party Defendants.
______________________________________________________________________________
Order
______________________________________________________________________________
Plaintiff and Counterclaim Defendant Internet Archive moves to dismiss counterclaims by
Defendant and Counterclaimant Suzanne Shell (“Shell”) for conversion, civil theft, breach of
contract and violations of the Racketeering Influence and Corrupt Organizations act (“RICO”),
18 U.S.C. § 1961, et. seq., and the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act (“COCCA”), Colo.
Rev. Stat. § 1817101 et seq., involving Internet Archive’s use of an automatic web browser to
reproduce the contents of Shell’s website. For the reasons discussed below Internet Archive’s
motion is GRANTED, in part and DENIED, in part.
Case 1:06-cv-01726-LTB-CBS Document 44 Filed 02/13/2007 Page 1 of 21
Internet Archive v. Shell
Doc. 44
Dockets.Justia.com
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I. BACKGROUND
Internet Archive is a San Francisco, California nonprofit organization devoted to
preserving a comprehensive record of all websites, documents and other information contained on
the internet as a resource for future generations. It employs a technology called the Wayback
machine to systematically browse the entire world wide web, reproducing content from websites
and placing them in an internet archive. Neither the Wayback Machine nor Internet Archive
actively seek the permission of website owners prior to reproducing website content, but
according to Internet Archive, the Internet Archive website explains how website owners can
remove material from the archive. Additionally, Internet Archive removes material on request
from website owners.
Shell, a resident of El Paso County, Colorado, owns a website