The Library of Congress has terabytes of data that it wants to preserve. Up until now, the LoC has relied on converting its files to a modern format every couple of years, so that they don’t have to rely on obsolete computers to read in the data. The problem is that conversion isn’t exactly preservation, since each conversion changes the file somewhat.

So the LoC has a new strategy: It is commissioning the creation of emulators that will allow modern computers to simulate their antique cousins, and so run the original software and read the original files.

Here’s where my uninformed, hysterical speculation begins: The SSSCA — the new antipiracy bill — seeks to stop digital piracy through hardware certification. Hardware vendors and copyright holders will create standards for computers and components that will prevent the unlicensed copying of files, and it will be illegal to sell uncertified equipment. One of the first things on the certification chopping-block is surely emulation, since emulating a “secure” computer inside a general-purpose computer is a sure-fire way to circumvent its copy-protection. What will happen with the LoC and the SSSCA meet in the middle? How will the LoC preserve our digital human culture henceforth without emulation? Link Discuss (via Meerkat)