I think it lead on from what used to be the COIL list, where various participants used to swap CDr's of bootleg gigs and extremely limited stuff we'd never of heard/afforded otherwise (maybe we should do something similar with Cope's 131/DOPE output?). Anyhow, it's been around for a few (several?) years now.
As I said, other than Thipe, Otto Avery (Cyclobe) and Danny Hyde, I don't think any one else has 'rights' to the material. Ian Johnstone, Johnn Balances partner died not long after Balance, and obvs Peter Christopherson isn't with us, though I think he set up a charity for street kids in Thailand who may or not benefit from releases. So I guess the archive is allowed to exist in legal limbo. They're upfront about not making any profits from anything they host, and it being, in effect, an ongoing memorial to all things COIL.
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