WAYBACK MACHINE POLITICIZES ITSELF, FUNDRAISES AGAINST TRUMP:

Dear Wayback Machine Patrons: We need your help to make sure the Internet Archive lasts forever. On November 9, we woke up to a new administration promising radical change*. This is a firm reminder that the Internet Archive must also design for change. So we set a new goal: to create a copy of our collections in the Internet Archive of Canada**. This will cost millions. For us, it means keeping our cultural materials safe, private and perpetually accessible. It means preparing for a Web that may face greater restrictions. It means serving patrons when government surveillance may be on the rise. The Internet Archive is a non-profit library built on trust. Reader privacy is very important to us, so we don’t accept ads. We don’t collect your personal information. But we still need to pay for servers, staff and rent. If everyone reading this gave $50, we could end our fundraiser right now. If you find our site useful, please give what you can today. Thank you.

Well, you’ve just eliminated half your potential donors, so, no thanks.

* I’m so old, I remember when Bay Area Democrats didn’t view “radical change” as a pejorative.

** Wait, Trump is going to destroy Internet servers in San Francisco? Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.