For many media companies, shifting from on-premises storage of past data files to cloud-based services has become vogue. These storage facilities are increasingly becoming a NIMBY target, with data center referendums in cities ranging from Nashville to Bowling Green, Tenn., keeping residents on their toes in recent weeks.
But, what happens when access to those files is blocked? The lawyers get involved, as has transpired with the PBS station serving St. Louis.
KETC-TV, known to viewers as “Nine PBS,” on Tuesday (7/28) filed a lawsuit in Colorado state district court against Iron Mountain Data Centers. Denver District Court Judge Eric Eliff has been assigned the case.
St. Louis Regional Public Media, the plaintiff, states that programming placed in data files dating back as far as 1956 is inaccessible; Nine PBS has been unable to open the 50 TB of files since March, it claims.
Why? The travails are a little complex and involve two businesses in the data storage arena.
Nine PBS explains that the company they used for cloud storage, Open Source Storage, declined to renew its annual agreement with St. Louis Regional Public Media. This was not anticipated, Nine PBS says, adding that it should have had 30 days to retrieve its data. Instead, the station claims, Open Source Storage immediately blocked access to the files.
That led Nine PBS’s parent to sue Open Source Storage in Missouri, but that legal action was withdrawn after Open Source’s ownership changed and Nine PBS was led to believe that the data would be returned. By June. the data remained locked in an Open Source Storage facility, while the new owner had exited the company after noting Open Source had “serious problems with the business and the data it houses.”
That led Nine PBS to go to Denver, and seek legal action against Iron Mountain.
But, is Iron Mountain the correct party to be considered the defendant in this case? It told the court the archival data has not been returned to Nine PBS by Iron Mountain because it does not own it. Rather, it is the property of Open Source Storage, which has a contract to use the Denver Iron Mountain facility.
As of July 30, the Open Source Storage website was not in operation; a LinkedIn profile page suggests it is no longer in operations.
The digital preservation of American media has become increasingly important for a host of companies across radio and television. Organizations such as The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation are dedicated to preserving the history and heritage of broadcasting and other electronic media.
For Nine PBS, the inaccessible files numbering more than 11,000 are “culturally important to the St. Louis area and most of it is unique and irreplaceable.”
In a statement provided to the Denver News, Nine PBS VP/Chief Communications Officer Leah Freeman said, “We are committed to ensuring we can recover and restore full access to this valuable content, which holds significant historical importance for St. Louis.”
Eliff on Wednesday was already in the courtroom considering the plaintiff’s claims; he ordered that Nine PBS’ archival data could not be tinkered with in any way, with an August 12 hearing scheduled.
