Cloud storage can be extremely useful. Simply create an account and be sure to pay your subscription fees, and your storage program will automatically back up your data to a (mostly) secure remote location. However, these systems are far from foolproof and it is easy to make mistakes when using cloud storage. The biggest mistake is assuming you can always access your data.
Earlier this year, Nine PBS (a branch of PBS based in St. Louis, Missouri) discovered that it had been cut off from its cloud storage system. The vendor that managed the storage, Open Source Storage, disappeared and ownership of its servers defaulted to Iron Mountain. This company currently does not allow Nine PBS access to the data, which consists of 50TB of archival footage spanning 70 years of broadcasts. Some of the most notable programs currently being held hostage include documentaries about the history of East St. Louis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to Open Source Storage’s abrupt bankruptcy and Iron Mountain’s actions, Nine PBS filed a lawsuit. According to court filings, the channel was denied the ability to recover its data “at the end of services,” as would have been stipulated in the cloud services contract, and is trying to preserve its valuable footage. According to the lawsuit, Nine PBS representatives felt they “had no choice but to file this lawsuit.”
A tangle of alleged betrayal
Initially, Nine PBS filed two lawsuits: one against Iron Mountain and one against Open Source Storage. However, the lawsuit against Open Source Storage was put on hold after Nine PBS made contact with James Tramel, then the new “managing partner” of Open Source Storage. Even that eventually fell apart after Nine PBS learned that Tramel had “been defrauded” into purchasing open source storage.
Currently, Open Source Storage and Iron Mountain are playing a game of hot potato with blame and liability. Before the trial, Iron Mountain refused to say whether it owned the archival footage, but after Nine PBS won an initial trial, Iron Mountain reversed course and admitted that it owned the data and would turn it over. The company later backtracked and claimed that Open Source Storage owns and owns the images. The trial against this company has therefore resumed.
At the time of writing, a district judge granted Nine PBS “temporary and preliminary relief” to ensure that data stored on the cloud, regardless of who currently owns it, cannot delete, modify or overwrite backups, resulting in the loss of years, or even decades, of data. At least that’s the plan. Even if Open Source Storage owns the data and does nothing about it, if the company is as defunct as it claims to be, it might not be able to pay the bills that keep the lights on and the servers running, and you could lose the backup images forever. The whole situation is a big headache and shows that you never really know what will happen to the cloud storage you load with your archived files. It seems that local storage is really safer for your personal data.
