So I followed a link from you Google homepage news to Toms Hardware Video that had Ben Meyer (of Toms) and Rob Wright of TwitchGuru talking about the Digg "Digital Boston tea Party." (If you dont know what I mean, do a little searching on the NY times, cnn, and google news pages for 'AACS', 'DMCA' and 'HD DVD key' and then get away from that rock your hiding under for a minute to catch up with the world.

Mr. Wright while stating his opinion, which he is of course free to do, went so far as to call the thousands of people who participated in the "Bigg Digg Revolt 07" as unintelligent, thieves who lack the common sense to understand that the DMCA is law (a good law he says). His touting of the posters as stereotypical geeks waiting to steal DVD's because they feel they "are entitled to it is nothing short of derogitory, imflammitory, and blatantly bigoted!"

Watch the video for yourself and if you will, follow me in sending letters to this Mr. Wright to tell him how you feel. here is my letter:


Mr. Wright
I just wanted to write in about the video I saw in which expressed many severely negative, ugly stereotypes about the kind of person who would (and did) post about the HD-DVD key on Digg.

First off, I am not a Digg user, I dont read the site much unless /. sends me there, and I did not participate in this "Digital Boston Teaparty."

Your characterization of everyone involved as without intelligence and common sense, wanting nothing more than to steal from corporate America. Your blatant biased condemnation of this issue smacks of nothing more than ignorance and intolerance on your part.

Several times you made reference to the DMCA and that posting the code was and is illegal. That is not the case as this legal grey area has not be ruled on in court, nor has any legal precedence been set that would give ever a patina of legitimacy to the take down notices.

On the other hand, the USSC has recently ruled that software is not a device, and therefore may very well be ineligible for copyright protection. But thats also if you could reasonably convince a judge, or better yet a jury that a 16 hexadecimal number is 'software.' I dont belive it is, nor do I think a reasonable person could either.

Now most people think the AACS LA is using this part of the DMCA to legitimize their actions:

No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof, that--

1) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title;
2) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title; or
3) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that person with that person's knowledge for use in circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title.

Part 1 doesn't cover this issue because no product, method, or service was produce or designed to circumvent a technical measure. This is just a hex string, not a program or a device, nor in the vast majority of the Digg stories was there instructions to "effectively control access to a work protected under this title"

Part 2 wont cover this as the string itself cannot and will never allow circumvention of the technology "that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title"

Part 3 cannot be used as no direct means of circumvention was given. No software, device, product, or instructions were given.

While some may claim that the wording "or part thereof," may have some bearing on this issue, it must be said that the DMCA is vague about keys, passwords, and algorithms and how they may or may not be disseminated when not part of a device, software, or comprehensive instruction set. Therefore it would be up to a judge/jury to determine if the wording as it applies to this case.

To be honest here, I hope that the vast majority of your user base take your flippant stereotypical remarks as insult and abandon your publication. but what does happen, i truely hope that you would atleast do your research before claiming that hundreds of thousands of internet users are unintelligent, thieving, Neanderthals who can do nothing more than bang their keyboards with their wooden clubs grunting "its mine, I deserve it!"