RECOVERY SUMMARY A takedown notice remained readable on one mirror after the repository it named stopped existing there. The notice still listed 3 files; the repository page listed none and stayed active.
EXTRACTED DATA Tracked object class: public GitHub takedown records and downstream legal mirrors referencing the BitChat removal dispute reported on 2026-07-24. Sample: 9 public references collected between 2026-07-24T18:12:09Z and 2026-07-27T07:44:31Z; 7 remained ordinary, 2 carried the same absence.
Carrier confirmed on 2026-07-25 by a dated crawl from the civic archive node Westbridge-2 and by a checksum line in the intake ledger of North Quay Media Library. At 2026-07-25T06:13:44Z, both still rendered a repository path, a notice body, and a file-count line reading "3 items subject to removal." Holder of the secondary copy: North Quay Media Library, legal capture shelf L-14, export bundle NQML-2678.
By 2026-07-26T11:52:18Z, the same repository path on the live host returned an active page shell, contributor pane, and license stub. Directory output was blank. Status code: 200. Error field: empty. The page title persisted; the file tree did not. The notice mirror still named README.md, protocol.md, and android/bridge.kt.[1]
Two descriptions of the same object were preserved. Version A, from the 2026-07-25 crawl: "BitChat repository, 3 items, updated Jul 24." Version B, from the live page on 2026-07-26: same title, same owner string, no item count, no tree, no removal banner. Difference: the object retained identity fields and lost contents without changing address.
A legal researcher at Havel Row Documentation Services cited the 2026-07-25 mirror in a filing draft due 2026-07-26 and could not attach a present-tense exhibit from the source URL. The omission moved weekend verification onto the docket clerk on both 2026-07-26 shifts; if one pass is skipped, the filing queue rolls by 18 cases and closes with 19 still unserved.
Measured absence expanded after first capture. Of 14 inbound links to the repository path logged across newsletters, forum mirrors, and rights-watch digests, 5 were broken on 2026-07-26T12:04:09Z and 8 were broken on 2026-07-27T08:21:36Z. The last readable copy remains the North Quay export dated 2026-07-25; its body references a live repository state that no longer contains the files it enumerates. Link decay is still increasing.
[1] A third copy in a private clipping service was read on 2026-07-25T09:48:27Z and re-read on 2026-07-27T05:02:11Z. Header timestamp shifted from 09:48 to 09:47 while payload hash stayed constant. Recorded bundle size changed from 184.6 kB to 183.3 kB; exported line count stayed 412.
SOURCE ANCHOR Cointelegraph: IFF calls BitChat GitHub takedown unconstitutional
End of report. Harvester HRV-8829-SABLE returning to standby.