“Archive.is” is a website that functions similarly to the more established Wayback Machine: Both provide an archiving service whereby snapshots of web pages across the internet are saved in a vast repository. In case archived pages become unavailable at their original locations, or their content is removed or changed, these archive services provide a static backup of each page, each of which can be linked to with presumably more assurance that their content will remain online and intact. Compared to Wayback Machine, which is much older and established, Archive.is is a newer competing service. Wikipedia articles have commonly used links to Wayback Machine’s version of web pages for use in their references in order to combat link rot.
A bot called RotlinkBot, created by User:Rotlink, has recently begun linking Wikipedia articles to the new Archive.is service. This bot was not approved, and was therefore subsequently blocked.
Following this block, the bot was used in an anonymous operation using IPs from three different Indian states, Italy, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Bulgaria, Qatar, Latvia, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, Spain, France, Mexico, Austria, and South Africa, raising strong suspicions that the IPs were not being used legally. These IPs, and User:Rotlink, self-identified as the owner of archive.is, were subsequently blocked. Rotlink has not commented on any of the blocks.
Over 10,000 links to archive.is remain on Wikipedia.
Wikipedia:Archive.is RFC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Archive.is_RFC
The question at hand is what to do with the Archive.is links that have been added to Wikipedia, mostly by a set of unapproved bots. Removing the links has significant potential to increase problems with WP:LINKROT. But many concerns were raised about the ethics of those who run Archive.is (mainly bypassing our procedures and the likelihood that the IPs used were used illegally) and how those actions reduce trust and increase concerns about future abuse by Archive.is. Worries about malware and advertising were the primary issues raised (though there was a sense that advertising could be acceptable).
There is clear consensus to remove these links. Blacklisting the site is less clear as a number of folks who supported the removal of the links opposed the blacklist. But blacklisting seems to have a weak consensus, especially if the IP and SPA are discounted (which seems reasonable).
That said, I’d urge the folks at Archive.is to come forward, apologize for policy violations carried out thus far, and work within the system to see if the community would be interested in having using Archive.is in the future. It seems likely this service could be valuable to the community, but actions taken thus far have created a great deal of distrust so the barrier to being accepted is quite high, but perhaps not insurmountable. I’d suggest starting a new page for discussion, notifying all those that participated here as well as dropping a note at a few other places. If you address the problems, consensus might be found to remove Archive.is from the blacklist.
To those removing Archive.is from articles, please be sure to make very clear A) why the community made this decision and B) what alternatives are available to them to deal with rotlink. Ideally someone would create a page explaining the situation and options and link to it in the edit summaries… Hobit (talk) 13:59, 31 October 2013 (UTC)
I was asked to clarify this closing statement.
・ There is a clear consensus for a complete removal of all Archive.is links.
・ There is a consensus (though weaker) to blacklist Archive.is.
I also suggested that the removal of Archive.is links be done with care and clear explanation to editors and suggested the folks at Archive.is work with the community to find a way forward. Please let me know if anything remains unclear. Hobit (talk) 15:49, 1 November 2013 (UTC)
(sk)
Wikipedia という「正義」が仕掛ける「仁義なき戦い」
戦いはいつまでも続くので、総集編はいつまでも完成しない。
Archive.is
https://kushima38.kagoyacloud.com/?p=27706
Wayback Machine
https://kushima38.kagoyacloud.com/?p=27711
Request for Comments (RFC)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Request_for_Comments
Request for Comments
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/Request_for_Comments
Link rot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_rot
リンク切れ
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/リンク切れ
(sk)
“Link rot” は日本語にできても、”Request for Comments” は日本語にはできない。。。ということらしい。もう居直っていて、カタカナにもしない。
もっとも “dead link” を「死んだリンク」なんて訳されるのも嫌だけど。
でも、”dead link” は「デッドリンク」としっかりカタカナになっているもんなあ。
“Request for Comments” は「リクエスト・フォー・サービス」にはならない。。。らしい。