Sure, complicated systems can easily break down on their own if a hard drive fills up or crashes or if some network configuration gets screwed up by desperate programmers on a late night crunch trying to impress the new boss. But a well-designed system shouldn't necessarily die so quickly even if it's not maintained by anybody.<p>Could this be an act of sabotage to get the new Twitter in legal trouble? Perhaps somebody broke the copyright system on the way out of the door in order to get Hollywood's lawyers endlessly suing them? I'm not sure, but I wouldn't rule out some wild plot twist in this story.
It's hard to feel sympathy for the Hollywood lawyers. Sonny Bono's "Mickey Mouse Protection Act" sets protection for 120 years, or the life of the author plus 70 years, whichever's earlier. It just does not seem like anything related to the public good.