Not that I'm participating in the madness, but how exactly would I go about using said code?
Search forums.doom9.org for the number in question. It's really technical, though. The funny thing is, not only was this done way back in February, the original thread still exists, and all the DMCA takedown stuff has done is create a massive Streisand Effect.
Looks like Wikipedia has gone lockstep with industry by wiping out all references to the number, even in its Wikipedia HD-DVD discussion page. I'm really sort of aghast that senior Wikipedia editors actually believe a number can be copyrighted.
You mean 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0?
That's my most favoriteist number ever!
To be fair, the number isn't copyrighted, but it does constitute an access control device under the DMCA, and is thus illegal in that context. I think the whole thing is stupid, and like all DRM, only really pisses off (mostly) the honest, but I really can't blame someone for not wanting to get the everliving fuck sued out of them by the movie industry.
After a little internet research, I've come up with this: That hex code is the first step in enabling the decryption of hd-dvds onto your computer. To the people (including me) who know nothing about coding, it's a pretty big non-issue. However the MPAA started slapping websites with cease-and-desist orders for simply having that string on their site. To add to that, Digg and Wikipedia began deleting posts about it. So in a demonstration of free speech, everyone is e-rioting and posting that string everywhere.
If you want my take on it, I think that Digg and Wikipedia are just instituting their "don't be a dick" policies. I invite everyone to stay cool about the subject, quit posting the hex, and generally "don't be a dick".
Is there a way I can call first dibs on the term "e-rioting"?
If this nonsense can help accelerate the defining of a standard HD format (enough with the VHS/Beta wars and their like, where the only losers are the consumers), the better.
This also makes me a little nostalgic for when DeCSS first came out (unfortunately, I seem to have lost my DeCSS and my Free Dmitry Sklyarov t-shirts, along with my :( shirt and all of my Tori Amos shirts -- WTF???). Anyway, I remember the only letters I've ever sent to my congresspeople were about Dmitry Sklyarov and how the DMCA is a pretty sucky law. I sent them about a week before 9/11.
Kinda makes me think how this much enthusiasm would have been great for, say, the run up to Iraq*, or the revelation that we (the US, that is) tortures pretty much everyone at all times.
*then again, the Digg crowd was about 8 years old at the time.
OK, this was going to happen. The idea of using one clear key to encrypt industry-wide was a mess waiting to happen. The logistical nightmare/impossibility of keeping said key secure while having to transport it to multiple manufacturers (if I'm understanding correctly) was an open invitation for this to happen.
It should not be illegal to posess or show the key. The onus is on the industry to keep it secure, or come up with a better scheme.
They have a better scheme: sue the whole fucking world.
> The onus is on the industry to keep it secure, or come up with a better scheme.
The industry has managed to show time and time again that it's not up to the job. It seems to prefer chasing creative teenagers though the courts.
You are committing an illegal act by reading this particular comment right here. This very one. That you keep reading! Gah! Stop already! Have you no shame?! You scofflaw! You're worse than Hitlerz already! Oh how your family will be dissapointed! "they just kept reading the comment, even after they read they were acting illegally" they'll say and shake their law-abiding heads. Well, it's only going to make it worse for you! You're well into the tenth sentence by now - that's certainly 20 years to life already! You wanna go for more?! Oh! The affrontery!
I have the illegal number imprinted in my memory! How do I erase it?
Oh yes, alcohol. I could do with a drink.
Drinking yourself into oblivion to forget an illegal number is also illegal. Pull over.
Bloggers "crossed the line" when they posted a software key
Yeah. You know "them".
"But a line is crossed when we start seeing keys being distributed and tools for circumvention. You step outside of the realm of protected free speech then."
What If I used the old A=1 B=2 and so on to post the key? It's technically not the key then is it?
MY numbers are:
A1 C5 68 8A 7D BB 16 E9 85 7C CB CF F2 97 F9 E0
1B 4D F9 92 76 8E A0 AC 90 95 3E 1A 8F E1 E2 A3
FD E1 A1 F6 83 CF 54 EC 34 85 EE 32 74 08 A8 2A
You are not allowed to know, use, or even look at those numbers! They are MINE!
That's it. I'm suing.
00001001 11111001 00010001 00000010 10011101 01110100 01011011 11011000 01000001 01010110 11000101 01100011 01010110 10001000 11000000