It took me a couple of hours to process what has happened. But, now I know, it is bigger than Digg.
Hackers and crackers have been at it before. Cracks have been semi-quietly distributed over the Internet. 0 day exploits were talked about, but with privacy in mind. The idea that information must be free has been lingering on the Internet for years now. Lectures were held. Opinions were exchanged.
But never until today has the entire Internet risen as one to protect their right of free speech, with one string of hexadecimal numbers being their defeaning shout.
This string of numbers, voiced first by everyone else and in the end by Digg’s Kevin Rose himself, in his post Digg This: 09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0, is probably meaningless to most users, even those who so severely opposed its initial censorship. Let’s be realistic here: most people will never enter that key anywhere; they’ll wait for a tool such as AnyDVD which will provide a simple way to circumvent the HD-DVD copy protection.
In the process of forcing this key into the public by the will of a critical mass of Internet users, Digg was only the catalyst. Look at any other big Internet site: Gizmodo, Mashable, TechCrunch: on every single one you’ll find a comment containing the dreaded key. For some reason, this key has become more than just a way to circumvent copy protection: it is now a statement.
It says: information must be free.
In as little as 24 hours, countless iterations of the key have sprung out. There’s a registered domain containing the key; there’s a string of colors equivalent to the key value; hell, if license plates were allowed to have 32 digits I bet there would be a great demand for a particular number.
I still think Digg should get editors. Just like forums and chat rooms, you need a moderator or else you’ll be in a pile of bad language, dirty pics and offensive content within days.
But I don’t think it has anything to do with this phenomenon. People wouldn’t be pushing a picture of a naked chick this hard. They wouldn’t be this fervent about some story about Bush. But this one hexadecimal string is where they rise and fight.
In the past couple of years, I’ve been slightly disillusioned by certain aspects of the Internet. I’ve seen big corporations taking control; I’ve seen DRM enter every pore of technology; I’ve seen people being sued and go to jail for what they say online.
But at this one moment, my faith is restored. No one can stop the freedom of speech once critical mass is achieved.
09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0
Remember this number.
Let freedom ring!
@Ali: with a shotgun blast? (;.
But why now? This information was available months ago!
http://digg.com/tech_news/The_HD_DVD_story_Dupe
p.s. I still think digg shouldn’t have editors, otherwise it would be like all the other news sites out there.
@Jason: well, the “wisdom” of crowds sometimes takes time to start working.
About the editors thing, I might have been unclear. From my standpoint, I wouldn’t like to see Digg having editors. But from Kevin Rose’s standpoint, they have to do something to clear up the mess.
It’s the same as any chat room or forum: no one likes that self-centered annoying moderator, but without him people would just yell cuss words in capital letters.
Yep the “wisdom” of crowds mostly becomes unruly after a while, and yes sometimes they can be slow.
Democracy in anyway always full of faults.
Stan, I have my doubts about what you say, based on my observations of the general character of Digg users. Most of them are not making any kind of political statement. They’re just being smartasses.
@Larry: In the article, I’m referring to Digg being the catalyst that kickstarted the phenomenon. The thing is, items such as this hex key are usually confined to shady forums, p2p sharing services and specialized chat rooms. After the Digg outburst, it seemed to me that the critical mass was achieved where no one entity can stop the sharing of the key, even under the threat of lawsuit. Everyone was spreading the key, not just Digg users.
Yep they sure were, even if they had no idea what it meant, how to use it or what it’s for?
That’s what is so ironic about the whole thing.
Suppression breeds Dissent
Dissent breeds Anger
Anger breeds Outburst
Outburst breeds Revolution
Revolution breeds….well just get out of the way when that happens
Yeah, I agree with your response to my comment. I was on several forums where people insisted on putting the key in their comments. What this means, then, is that Digg has to be responsible for the implications of its policies or, as you say, change its policies.
@Ali: I’ve been a student of revolution over the years. Don’t ask how long. The one thing that seems to be a truism is that old line by The Who: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. And if you think about the actual meaning of the word revolution, how could it be otherwise?
License plates may not allow 32 digits… but I managed to get the first four on mine.