Just for the record, we are an archive, just one with some policies (that I myself have been working to have tuned) that you might not like. I understand that you don't like the policy.
Does the Wayback Machine retain data excluded by new robots.txt rules? (In other words: If you change your policy in the future, can the change be retroactive?)
Why does archive.org keep this policy? It drastically limits what The Wayback Machine could be. I've searched quite a bit, but I haven't found a satisfying answer.[1]
1. https://archive.org/post/1019415/retroactive-robotstxt-remov... contains links to previous discussion on archive.org.
The irony that the policy can only be viewed through the wayback machine is not lost on me.
I don't think you can claim that when second-parties dictate your retention of existent data[0].
An archive is a place to which I can confidently go to retrieve a document in line with the retainer's retention and access policy. If the retainer doesn't control the retention of existing documents then... it's not really an archive. It's just an ephemeral store which may or may not still have the document in which I'm interested.
[0] in terms of raw etymology you are correct, in that arkheia just meant 'public records'. But having to regress to the Greek origin is a bit of a stretch.