With Z-Library now taken down, the ‘team’ behind the Pirate Library Mirror has launched “Anna’s Archive” – a free online shadow library meta-search engine for finding pirated books.
Created by a team of anonymous archivists (who call themselves the PiLiMi team), Anna’s Archive is formed in direct response to law enforcement actions taken against the Z-Library website.
For those unaware, Z-Library, an e-book pirate site that claims to be “the world’s largest library” offered scholarly journal articles, academic texts, and general-interest books. It was especially popular with college students and academics.
However, on November 3, 2022, Z-Library’s network of online domains was taken offline and seized by the U.S. government and U.S. Postal Inspection, pursuant to a court order.
Further, the alleged masterminds behind Z-Library and Russian nationals, Anton Napolsky and Valeriia Ermakova were too arrested on the same day in Cordoba, Argentina at the request of the United States. They were charged with criminal copyright infringement, wire fraud, and money laundering for operating Z-Library.
Coming to Pirate Library Mirror, this is a new project that has entered the piracy domain with the goal of preserving as much written material as possible. It says that they are strictly a mirror of existing libraries that focuses specifically on books.
The project is handled by Anna and the PiLiMi team. The first library that they mirrored is Z-Library, which was completed in September. They are also cognizant of the legal status of their project.
“We deliberately violate the copyright law in most countries. This allows us to do something that legal entities cannot do: making sure books are mirrored far and wide,” they note in their blog post.
Basically, Anna’s Archive, which has been created by Anna, is a backup of the Z-Library shadow library.
It is a meta-search engine that has archived the entire content of Z-Library and Library Genesis forks, as well as torrent links. The site offers all information in a simple and easy-to-navigate format for free.
Considering the legal hassles Z-library operators had to face even after remaining anonymous, Anna’s team is taking all measures to stay unknown.
“We are at the other end of the spectrum; being very careful not to leave any trace, and having strong operational security,” Anna wrote.
The PiLiMi team plans to write a detailed essay explaining the motive behind Anna’s Archive. “We are planning to write an in-depth essay about our motivations at some point,” she told TorrentFreak.
