In Web Uproar, Antipiracy Code Spreads Wildly (Digg user revolt)

[Ignacio Upton]

Source: The New York Times

In Web Uproar, Antipiracy Code Spreads Wildly
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By BRAD STONE
Published: May 3, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO, May 2 — There is open revolt on the Web.

Sophisticated Internet users have banded together over the last two days to publish and widely distribute a secret code used by the technology and movie industries to prevent piracy of high-definition movies.

An online uproar came in response to a series of cease-and-desist letters from lawyers for a group of companies that use the copy protection system, demanding that the code be removed from several Web sites.

Rather than wiping out the code — a string of 32 digits and letters in a specialized counting system — the legal notices sparked its proliferation on Web sites, in chat rooms, inside cleverly doctored digital photographs and on user-submitted news sites like Digg.com.

“It’s a perfect example of how a lawyer’s involvement can turn a little story into a huge story,” said Fred von Lohmann, a staff lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group. “Now that they started sending threatening letters, the Internet has turned the number into the latest celebrity. It is now guaranteed eternal fame.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/technology/03code.html?ref=technology

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All I have to say to the members of Digg: Keep on fighting!

[htuttle]

1. The fools should have known better -- the same thing happened with the DeCSS algorithm

People started incorporating the code into the lyrics of songs, as graphics in paintings, you could get T-Shirts with the algorithm printed on it, etc...

Idiot lawyers for idiot corporate execs. And somehow, people like that seem to be in charge all over the world...

[Ignacio Upton]

2. The code has spread to the point that they can't realistic use their lawyers on anyone

Except maybe the guys in charge of Digg for "inciting" in. I'd like to see them try and sue 10,000's of people at once. Hell, they should try and sue that guy who posted a song of the code on YouTube. Such a mass suit would lead to the repeal of the DMCA due to the sheer backlash from a PR standpoint.

[MrPrax]

12. One big difference...

when DeCSS happened, they called it theft. Now it's a 'revolt'.

By the way, I have a math problem:
Does anyone know the square root of 13256278887989457651018865901401704640?

Two problems with the Media.

1) unreliable
2) overpriced

No one needs to study that...change it.

[bigworld]

3. 4 8 15 16 23 42 ?

[jayfish]

4. Man Those Look Like Good Lottery Numbers.

;)

Jay

[Pab Sungenis]

5. Hike!

[Zywiec]

6. Here's the current number.

13256278887989457651018865901401704640. As soon as they have a new one, the hackers will be working on a crack. It's a never ending cycle.

[Ignacio Upton]

7. If it's already been cracked

and if they just replace them shortly after, then why are they getting so worked up? It's not like many people have HD-DVD players anyway at this point. Now, if only Digg users would post the Blu-Ray code.:D

[TommyO]

8. I have a riddle for you

What do 09 f9 11 02 9d 74 e3 5b d8 41 56 c5 63 56 88 and c0 have in common?

[Ian David]

9. See also: Photoshop Rebels Rip Great HD DVD Clampdown

Photoshop Rebels Rip Great HD DVD Clampdown

Creative works of art? Here's a look at the nerd revolt in pictures, from T-shirts and roadside signs to a hodgepodge of Photoshop creations. Enjoy them now, before the copyright police go after them. But, really, who wouldn't consider them works of art? For the latest breaking news on the great Digg HD DVD clampdown, check the Epicenter blog.



More:
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/multimedia/2007/05/crackkdown_protest?slide=8&slideView=1

[meldroc]

10. Whatever you do, don't post 09 f9 11 02 9d 74 e3 5b d8 41 56 c5 63 56 88 c0

09 f9 11 02 9d 74 e3 5b d8 41 56 c5 63 56 88 c0 is a naughty number - the AACS LA might get you, so you don't want to repeat 09 f9 11 02 9d 74 e3 5b d8 41 56 c5 63 56 88 c0.

Again, make sure you keep 09 f9 11 02 9d 74 e3 5b d8 41 56 c5 63 56 88 c0 to yourself, otherwise the world might end up with ruinous things such as Fair Use, which would prevent the movie industry from charging you twenty times for the same movie. That's what happens when you repeatedly post 09 f9 11 02 9d 74 e3 5b d8 41 56 c5 63 56 88 c0.

[NJCher]

11. It's like the Chinese finger pull game

Remember these?



The more they try to stop copying, the greater the resistance. It's like this Chinese finger pull game--the more you pull, the tighter and more resistant it gets.

What cracks me up is they keep trying the same strategies. And every single time they get beat over the head.

I love stories like this. Makes my day.



Cher

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

13. If there was a Hell, the Devil would be wiping this news on Jack Valenti's face right now.

[uppityperson]

14. don't listen to this song either

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9HaNbsIfp0

[Ignacio Upton]

15. ROFLAMO!

Viva la revolución!