Nine PBS, the St. Louis affiliate of the public broadcasting network, initiated legal action against Iron Mountain Data Centers seeking access to approximately 50 terabytes of stored content. The station had contracted with Open Source Storage (OSS) to manage its cloud storage infrastructure using space within one of Iron Mountain’s Denver facilities. When OSS became unresponsive and subsequently ceased operations, Nine PBS lost access to the archived materials despite attempts to communicate with the company.
The disputed data collection spans several decades and includes content related to major regional events such as the COVID-19 pandemic coverage, East St. Louis historical records, and documentation of the 1993 Great Flood, along with over 11,000 additional files. According to Nine PBS’s legal complaint, the majority of these materials are unique and irreplaceable. The station’s contract with OSS terminated on March 6, and Nine PBS claims it lost access to the data immediately after the contract ended, despite contractual provisions allowing 30 days for data retrieval.
A Denver District Court judge issued a ruling requiring Iron Mountain to provide the physical devices containing the data. The court also mandated that Nine PBS identify a third party, potentially a former OSS employee, to assist in data recovery within 30 days while preventing unauthorized access to other clients’ information. Nine PBS indicated it has already engaged a former OSS employee willing to participate in the recovery process. A subsequent hearing will be scheduled if complications arise, such as encrypted data requiring additional intervention.
Iron Mountain maintained that it functions solely as a physical infrastructure provider, offering space, network connectivity, power, and environmental controls. The company contended that it cannot access client data stored on hardware owned by its customers and stated that providing unauthorized access would violate privacy protocols and breach its agreement with OSS. The parties were directed to provide status updates by September 14.
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