GoKawiilThere’s light at the end of the tunnel for Nine PBS. We reported last week that the station lost access to 50TB of data representing 70 years of TV history. The issue was that its cloud storage provider went out of business and access to this important set of backups was abruptly cut off. In the meantime, a judge has cleared the way for Nine PBS to retrieve its archival data and programming from Iron Mountain Data Centers.
Let us refresh your memories of this case by sketching out a timeline of how we got here, before discussing the latest ruling.
2019: Nine PBS began using Open Source Storage (OSS) as its cloud storage provider.
Nine PBS began using Open Source Storage (OSS) as its cloud storage provider. 2019-2025: Annual cloud storage contract renewals occur without incident.
Annual cloud storage contract renewals occur without incident. February 2026: Nine PBS wanted to meet with OSS about contract renewal but couldn’t get in touch.
Nine PBS wanted to meet with OSS about contract renewal but couldn’t get in touch. March 6, 2026: Without any new agreement inked, the existing contract expired on March 6, with the terms allowing 30 days for the customer to retrieve their data. However, OSS seemed to cut off access to Nine PBS cloud data without any warning or any grace period.
Without any new agreement inked, the existing contract expired on March 6, with the terms allowing 30 days for the customer to retrieve their data. However, OSS seemed to cut off access to Nine PBS cloud data without any warning or any grace period. March 13, 2026: Nine PBS learned that OSS saved its cloud data at physical servers housed in Iron Mountain, Colorado. So it wrote to request that Iron Mountain preserve and return the data. However, Iron Mountain doesn’t confirm or deny that it holds this data.
Nine PBS learned that OSS saved its cloud data at physical servers housed in Iron Mountain, Colorado. So it wrote to request that Iron Mountain preserve and return the data. However, Iron Mountain doesn’t confirm or deny that it holds this data. April 16, 2026: Nine PBS filed suit against OSS, and new OSS owner James Tramel confirms the data is secured at Iron Mountain.
Nine PBS filed suit against OSS, and new OSS owner James Tramel confirms the data is secured at Iron Mountain. May 2026: Tramel stops responding, later claiming he was defrauded into buying OSS.
Tramel stops responding, later claiming he was defrauded into buying OSS. June 2026: Nine PBS obtains a default judgment stating it owns the data in question and has the right to possess it. Later the same month, Iron Mountain admits it possesses the data. However, Iron Mountain decides to block any access as it says OSS owns the physical servers.
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