Startup Webaroo to put the 'Web on a Hard Drive'? 340
An anonymous reader writes "A new startup called Webaroo is launching Monday with an audacious proposition: You can search the Web without a net connection of any kind. Initial release consists of 'Web packs' on specific topics such as news, city guides or Wikipedia. Later this year they're promising a full-Web version that you can carry on a laptop -- provided you're willing to devote something in the neighborhood of 80 gig."
Sounds like a cache to me (Score:5, Informative)
Additionally what if I decide to follow site links that leave the cache?
Yeah I can't really see this picking up.
All of the Web on a laptop? (Score:5, Informative)
Internet Archive Frequently Asked Questions [archive.org]
Re:Copyright infringment. (Score:5, Informative)
How soon till the first lawsuit is filed.
US copyright law, 17 USC 512 [cornell.edu], excuses operators of automated caches that conform to established cache control protocols (meta elements, /robots.txt, etc.) from copyright infringement liability.
html has never cared where data comes from (Score:3, Informative)
If you've ever written or read html, you know that html doesn't care if links start file:// or if they start html://. HTML has always been quite neutral on whether it was linking to a local file system or getting something over the internet. Of course, most people don't use html extensively for local content. So in theory, this isn't a new idea at all.
In practice, I don't see a lot of points for it. I can imagine that some people might want a map of a new city, with clickable pictures and informations about various services there. Most features of a city map are going to stay the same for at least six months, so this is the type of thing that could be done staticly. But even with this, internet access is so widespread, that it seems like a solution for a minor problem. Also, if you want a handy city guide, it would make more sense to me to write it from scratch rather than use a cludge of cached web pages.
Cache exemption (Score:4, Informative)
Technically, they make a copy and the ISP doesn't.
Isn't the ephemeral copy in the RAM of a router still a copy? And don't operators of automated caches have a fairly broad exemption under United States copyright law, 17 USC 512(b) [bitlaw.com]?
Re:What's their useragent? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Transoceanic flights? (Score:4, Informative)
For shorter flights within the UK and Europe, it's safe to say I can cope without internet access for two hours.
Re:Dotcom v3.0 (Score:2, Informative)
Hmm... I'm guessing bandwidth better be cheaper than ads, otherwise they lose money with every page served. So, if the ads bring in more than the bandwidth costs, they still lose money here.