09F9 : The Cyber-revolt of 2007

Recently, the copyright protection for the new HD-DVD format was hacked and the unlock code was released onto the internet. Digg.com tried to stop the spread of the AACS processing key, but in so doing made the 32-digit hexadecimal number the most popular number in modern history.

The code has spread like a virus everywhere. A simple Google search will return as much as 2 million results. By deleting posts and banning users, Digg spurred an online revolt against big business politics. The front page of Digg had post upon post of users spreading the word about the broken code. Some included the actual code, while some just smacked on Digg for deleting previous posts and told users to search Google.

Where did the code end up?? Well...
- eBay auctions
- personal websites and blogs, like mine
- shirts
- buttons
- pictures and drawings posted on Flickr and Photobucket
- a song, “Oh Nine, Eff Nine” with guitar background

After a length of time, the site was forced to shut down due to server strain. This also gave the company heads a chance to come up with a formulated response. Co-founder Kevin Rose brought the website back up with a response that Diggers would “rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company.” It is reasonable that they would have had the initial response that they did because of the potential for a lost sponsor (HD-DVD is an ad-sponsor for some pages on Digg) and of course a lawsuit is never out of the question (remember Viacom?).

This is another example of how the world is changing. Large companies continue to try to reinforce the hold they have on industry from which they profit. Microsoft, Viacom, Apple... these are all companies who are used to easy profit and are in a panic that they mean nothing to us. The more they try, the harder they fall. Security is hacked weeks after release, movies are downloaded in full before they hit the theaters, Digital Rights Management (DRM for music) is but a carboard barrier.

Knock, knock, big boys. The way of the future is safer, easier, and it also happens to be free. We are the users of the internet. Feel our wrath.