New $70 Million PBS Lawsuit Shows Why You Shouldn't Completely Trust Cloud Storage

Cloud storage can prove extraordinarily useful. Just set up an account and make sure you pay your subscription fees, and your storage program will automatically back up your data in a (mostly) secure remote location. However, these systems are far from foolproof, and it's easy to make mistakes while 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 ran the storage, Open Source Storage, went defunct, and ownership of its servers defaulted to Iron Mountain. Currently, that company won't let Nine PBS access the data, which consists of 50 TB worth of archival footage that spans 70 years of broadcasts. Some of the more noteworthy programs currently held hostage include documentaries on 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 has filed a lawsuit. According to the court filings, the channel was denied the ability to retrieve its data "upon termination of services" as allegedly 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."

Initially, Nine PBS filed two lawsuits: one against Iron Mountain, and one against Open Source Storage. However, the lawsuit against Open Source Storage was paused after Nine PBS got in touch with James Tramel, Open Source Storage's then-new "managing partner." Even that eventually fell apart after Nine PBS learned 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 responsibility. Before the lawsuit, Iron Mountain refused to comment on whether it had the archival footage, but after Nine PBS won an initial lawsuit, Iron Mountain backtracked and conceded it had the data and would hand it over. The company then backtracked its own backtrack and claimed Open Source Storage owned and possessed the footage, so now the lawsuit against that company is back on again.

As of writing, a district judge granted Nine PBS a "temporary and preliminary relief" to ensure that the data stored on the cloud, whomever currently possesses it, can't delete, modify or overwrite the backups, which would result in losing years, if not decades, of data. At least, that's the plan. Even if Open Source Storage does have the data and doesn't do anything to it, if the company is as defunct as they claim, they might not be able to pay the bills that keep the lights on and the servers running, and you could lose the backup footage forever. The whole situation is one big migraine and shows you never really know what will happen to the cloud storage you put in charge of your archived files. Looks like local storage truly is safer for your personal data.