In case you don’t use digg.com, it’s a social news site where users can “digg” the articles/webpages/anything they like to push it to the front page of digg.com. It’s every website’s dream to hit the front page of digg because it means thousands upon thousands of page views within moments. Digg has over 1 million users now, and they have turned on the digg management faster than anything I’ve ever seen.
What sent the diggers up in arms? The removal of a story submitted that had hit the front page about the 32 digit hexadecimal code that is used to unlock the encryption on HD-DVDs. This code is similar to the “illegal prime”number that was used to crack DVDs. The number is illegal to publish and copy because it can circumvent all of the copy-protection put on HD-DVDs, which means that HD-DVDs can now be pirated. Digg removed this story immediately because its moderators said that it was a legal matter for digg, and that it could not be responsible for such content on the site.
Diggers are viewing this as a persecution of their right to free speech, and rightfully so. Another little fact that enraged diggers is that reddit and other large social news sites didn’t immediately take down the posted links to the code. It has become an issue of standing up to the MPAA and RIAA (two groups which the digg crowd would lynch, burn and the stake, and mutilate if they had the chance); this is something that digg did not do. Rather than trying to put up a fight to battle DRM, digg bent over and acted like a little baby.
Finally, it has come to surface that Diggnation, a podcast done by digg owner Kevin Rose and his friend Alex Albrect, have been sponsored by HD-DVD in the past. Conflict of interests? I think so…Links to other stories:
- Breaking: Digg Riot in Full Effect Over Pulled HD-DVD Key Story – Gizmodo
- NO MERCY – DIGG OUT OF CONTROL – Mashable
- E3 Expo implicated in HD-DVD piracy – Destructoid