Digg Reverses Course After Online Uproar

Larry Magid analyzes technology issues and devices for CBS News and CBSNews.com.

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The Web site Digg — where people get to submit links to articles and blog items that they think others should pay attention to — has been involved in a hailstorm of controversy this week over its initial adherence and eventual rejection of a legal notice from a movie industry anti-piracy group.

At issue is a 16-digit hexadecimal code that hackers can use to attempt disable the copy protection built into high-definition DVDs. That code — which could help someone copy these otherwise "protected" discs — has been circulating on the Internet for months. Most people probably never paid much attention to it until this week when Digg responded to a cease and desist letter by removing all references to the hack code on its site.

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  CBS News tech consultant Larry Magid talks to Fred Von Lohmann, intellectual property attorney of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (audio)

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The decision generated thousands of user posts objecting to Digg's decision to go along with the demands of the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) Licensing Administrator to remove the type of code that AACS refers to on its Web site as "attacks against certain PC-based applications for playing HD DVD and Blu-ray movie discs."

After assessing the user reaction, Digg made the decision to defy the AACS legal claim and allow its users to put the offending code in postings on the site. In his posting, Digg founder Kevin Rose wrote, "We had to decide whether to remove stories containing a single code based on a cease and desist declaration. We had to make a call, and in our desire to avoid a scenario where Digg would be interrupted or shut down, we decided to comply and remove the stories with the code."

But Digg officials changed their minds. "After seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you've made it clear," Rose wrote. "You'd rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company." So Digg has promised not to delete story comments with the code "whatever the consequences might be. He defiantly concluded "if we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying."

But Fred Von Lohmann, intellectual property attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, doesn't think there's much chance that Digg will "die" as a result of the decision.

"It's very unlikely that the AACS is going to sue Digg over this," he said in an interview.

If anything, this could backfire on the security licensing organization. "Frankly," said Von Lohmann, "this has to be viewed as a big mistake by the AACS gang, because the story had already come out in February and it was not until the lawyers started getting involved that the story suddenly became a huge Internet phenomenon.

There are two issues here, according to Von Lohmann. One is the copy protection itself and the other is the free speech implication of trying to suppress the publication of a series of numbers and letters.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibits decrypting or bypassing copyright technologies without permission. So, while it's perfectly legal to make a personal copy of a copyrighted but unprotected CD, it's not legal to do the same with a copy-protected DVD, even though, from a copyright perspective, the content of both enjoy exactly the same level of protection. What's at issue is defeating the copy protection scheme.

This provision in the DMCA has been tested many times and, so far, the courts have ruled against companies and individuals that have developed or distributed software or other technologies to circumvent copy protection. In 2004, for example, software developer 321 Studios was forced to close its doors after reaching a settlement with the Motion Picture Association of America. MPAA objected to the company's Copy Plus software that was designed to duplicate copy-protected DVD movies. Courts in New York and California both ruled against the company, essentially scuttling its attempts to offer consumers a way of copying movies.

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[bookwerm314]

Considering that many many TVs were sold as HD READY and LACK the HDMI interface, there is no way to watch HD DVDs on them, based on current set up.
Same for many up converting players.
This is pathetic.
You cannot penalize existing owners based on subsequent laws. This was never addressed.
Many players only output via the HDMI for HD.
I hope the people who got this to happen all get really bad things to happen to them.
Yes, I curse you, all of you, and may the gods of the people bring boils to you.

[dmorg4]

the intertainment industry is evil they want
to sell you the same movie over and over again
when it gets scratched i cant count the dvds
destroyed by my kids just one scratch is all
it takes to ruin one.
im tired of buying things i already paid for....

[nowhereman00]

Despite (or because of) the risks, it looks like the general public respects the decision digg made...

http://www.buzzdash.com/?page=buzzbite&BB_id=15254

[itwasntme000]

Well think about music CD's. Me personally I do not buy anything new. I go to half.com buy a CD for dirt cheap, copy it to my computor, burn a cd of it for myself, then sell the original CD back on web site for what i paid for it minus the S&H.

This is what the movie industry fears.

But when i did buy new CD's i would burn a copy put that in my CD case and file the original CD away in the closet untill the CD i burned completely goes to ***(which they do, very rapidly)

But i totally agree with rational_1. I mean A CD is going to get scratched up eventually and to me they are pieces of *** if you have kids around. The vhs tape will last basically forever the CD has no longevity whatsoever. They really need to do what you were saying rational, the whole send in your scratch all the ^%$^*%#$& CD and they will send you a replacement.

[klingon69]

rational_1;
At one time you were legally allowed to make one copy of any tape, record...etc, that you bought for just such reasons. However, I believe in this new age, we are no longer allowed to do this.

[mdk2dude]

jh6379 has bigger gazangas than CBS. Congratulations JH

[mdk2dude]

CBS is the first one to publish a photo of a distraught mother that has just lost her family due to some outside influence without any regard for the woman but CBS does not have the gumption (commonly called the gazangas) to post the actual code in the article so we could all see what the story is about. The least they could do is blame it on Bush as he must be behind a nefarious plot to lie to the American people about what the code is. If the code was about the security of our country then the total communication organizations (the news people) would publish it on the front page to make sure the people that would do us harm would not be deprived of owning it.

[gunownerdan]

"There Should Be A 'Digg Riot' Everyday"
http://www.infowars.com/articles/media/digg_censorship_there_should_be_digg_riot_every_day.htm

infowars.com

[griking]

Monkfellow;

Using your example of the new car it would also be illegal for you, the legitimate owner of the car to make a duplicate copy of your key to open your own car if for some reason you lost the original.

Too often people (like you) assume that there's no reason to copy a DVD other than piracy. People just want the ability to make backups of the DVDs that they've already legally purchased. Kids can be rough with their DVDs. Accidents happen. I want the ability to make a copy of my Disney DVDs so that I don't need to worry about the kids scratching the hell out of them.

[padrigo17us]

Thief! If that's what it is, then that's wwhat it is. Computers have good use, but turn bad if it becomes misuse.

Anthony Young
800 E. Indianola Ave.
Youngstown, OH 44502