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Judge Finds Content from the Internet Archive Website Admissible
The Internet Archive is a digital library of Internet sites that allows users to call up and see the past content of web pages. In a recent case, an Illinois Judge ruled that copies of web pages from the Internet Archive were admissible as evidence. The case involved a contract dispute between Polska, an American TV provider, and Echostar, a satellite TV service, which arose over Echostar's alleged illegal use of one of Polska's trademarks. Echostar submitted content from Internet Archive's website as evidence in its defence. Polska attempted to suppress the evidence on grounds of hearsay and unauthenticated source.
However, the court rejected Polska's objections holding that the archived copies were not themselves statements susceptible to the hearsay rule because they merely indicated what Polska had previously posted on its Website. Moreover, the court found that an affidavit from an Internet Archive employee was sufficient to authenticate the archived pages for admissibility.
For additional information, visit:
http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/packets/vol_2_no_3/002728.shtml