It's actually very similar to Aaron Schwartz's plan of using academic access to copy and widely distribute papers. This researcher does not have a legal basis to copy 2000+ disks in order to free them from the national archives. At most he has a restricted right of access to use some of them in his academic research.

To test he could ask the national archive for permission to carry out his plan and observe how quickly his access is revoked.

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Research Room Rules.

The rules are intended to provide clear instructions to both staff and researchers on the research room:

  * registration process;
  * entry and exit procedures;
  * items authorized and not authorized for use in the * research rooms;
  * pull requests;
  * records handling guidelines; and
  * copying and equipment approvals.

The rules will be available for researcher use in each facility or can be requested in writing from the facility managers listed below.

Archives II, College Park, MD – Michael Knight, michael.knight@nara.gov