from CNET
Digital archivists look to porn, Flash for tips
go to article

The best bet for long-term preservation, especially in the digital realm, would seem to run counter to the traditional view of preservation, which is one that is: "highly controlled by skilled professionals, who often deal with tangible, long-lasting and, in the case of museum quality art, highly expensive materials".

Instead, for digital materials to survive, they must depend on a coummunity of networks to make a multitude of copies and spreading these copies far and wide, so that some might still be around in years to come. So the whole idea of stringent copyright, as we know it today, is the enemy of digital preservation. Or putting it another way: "Data's got to continuously move to stay alive; and it's got to be frequently accessed by a lot of people. Open source, publicly documented formats and software will be the long-term survivors".