Is Digg.com Facing Lawsuits? End of Site in Sight?
Digg.com is likely facing a series of lawsuits that may well end this popular user-driven news site forever. The website has gone through an incredible and unprecedented series of transformations in the last 24 hours. As of right now, even major websites like Slashdot and Wired are (at best) not yet telling the full story or even (at worst) giving inaccurate or incomplete information. For example, no one is reporting the fact that the illegal code in question has been up on Digg.com for months! Digg first adhered to its Terms of Service, then violated them as well as the law in a 180-degree turn-around.
At Digg, site administrators went from removing articles referencing a certain copyrighted code to banning users who submitted such articles, all before the founder of Digg (Kevin Rose) embraced the code and published it openly in a story headline. This last move both violated Digg’s own Terms of Service and broke applicable copyright laws, ignoring a Cease and Desist order telling the site not to list the code.
The entire fiasco started with a hexadecimal string that decrypts HD-DVDs. This string was released to the public months ago on the Doom9 forum by a user named Arnezami, and has been circulating around the internet ever since. Few people (including Digg administrators) realized that the string had already been linked to from Digg.com numerous times, and had been posted to Digg comments as far back as early February [NOTE: for legal reasons I am blurring the images below so as not to post the code string. However, if you wish to retrace my steps and verify my statements simply search Digg for Arnezami].
Yesterday, however, a user posted a story more explicitly displaying the code. After this link was removed, the user reposted the same basic story that ended up receiving over 15,000 ‘Diggs’ on the site making it front-page news. This story was removed as well, which caused an uproar in the Digg community. Within hours, the entire front page of Digg.com consisted of stories that reposted or linked to the illicit hexadecimal string [image below]. Digg users claimed that Digg was actively engaging in censorship of information, and showed their feelings about this quite openly.
Initially, Digg administrators removed stories displaying or linking to the contentious code as fast as possible. After banning a number of users, the site had to first disable new story submissions before finally shutting down entirely for a short period of time. Realizing there was no end in sight to the open revolt, Digg founder Kevin Rose capitulated to popular demand and reposted the hexadecimal string in a new story headline (you can see the Digg blog for details).
Beyond the legal implications of Rose’s decision, there are a good deal of unanswered questions concerning the motivation of Digg administrators in both banning the code initially and then embracing the code openly. For one thing, the DiggNation show received sponsorship by the HD-TV Promotion Group. It is thus easily arguable that the initial decision to block the code from the site was economically motivated. Once users rebelled, it is also equally likely that Digg folded to user demands for reasons of self-preservation rather than out of a concern for freedom of information. Further, Digg removed a number of stories and comments in the midst of the debacle that criticized Digg or discussed the code but did not openly display it. PS: Web Urbanist FTW!
I IZ SNUGFUL LINKBATE NOW » Blog Archive » The End of Digg.com said,
May 2, 2007 @ 4:28 am
[…] Digg.com is likely facing a series of lawsuits that may well end this popular user-driven news site forever. The website has gone through an incredible and unprecedented series of transformations in the last 24 hours. As of right now, even major websites like Slashdot and Wired are (at best) not yet telling the full story or even (at worst) giving inaccurate or incomplete information … [MORE] […]
Bob said,
May 2, 2007 @ 4:39 am
fix your thumbnails :)
Digg Dugg It’s Own Grave at Bob Meets World said,
May 2, 2007 @ 4:41 am
[…] Bob | May 2, 2007 -update: Some more interesting facts on this issue found on allsux.com- Is the mighty Digg in trouble? The mega-site prouds itself on being all about what they call […]
UnBan Bob | Life Is Risky said,
May 2, 2007 @ 9:21 am
[…] AllSux […]
Anonymous said,
May 2, 2007 @ 2:58 pm
The End of Digg.com: Digg First Faces User Revolt, and Now a Series of Lawsuits?…
Digg went from following a Cease and Desist order to breaking it, violating its own Terms of Service as well as the law in order to protect itself and appease angry users. However, they (of course) first banned a bunch of users who posted a code string…
sapphireknight said,
May 3, 2007 @ 12:23 am
Very interesting story indeed.
You have done it again.
:D
PENIX said,
May 3, 2007 @ 7:43 am
Bleh. Until Digg is actually in a lawsuit, who cares. I think you should focus on the blatant promotion of ignorance which is inherent to a site run by idiotic fanboy users.
To add to my case, here is a current front page headline, currently at over 750 diggs: “Yes! Coffee Really is Good For You”. Diggtard fanboyism at it’s best. If any of these 750+ users had actually read the article, they would find that the headline is completely misleading. A quote from the article states, “coffee may increase the risk of leukemia and stomach cancer”.
Marek said,
May 3, 2007 @ 12:04 pm
Get it? End of “site” in “sight”? Get it? They are pronounced the same, but actually, they have two different meanings. It’s kind of a play on words, which is why it is funny.
kroq said,
May 3, 2007 @ 1:46 pm
Marek, I love you man :) And as for the idiocy of the site, yes, you’re right, I should add some content about that - meanwhile, check the ‘Digg’ link under tags for many more old stories about Digg corruption and so on!
Blog Potato said,
May 3, 2007 @ 3:48 pm
Your blog has been added to the Blog Potato Blogroll.
I would appreciate it if you would add Blog Potato to your blogroll or link section.
yuvu said,
May 5, 2007 @ 9:19 am
Check out Stirrdup. I like it a lot better than Digg. All the points are gained through things like people actually reading the stories and posting comments. Seems more blog focused as well.
http://www.stirrdup.com
Johan said,
May 9, 2007 @ 11:36 pm
Yeah there’ll be a ton of alternatives soon enough. There isn’t anything wrong with the Digg site itself, there is just a problem with their userbase. frack.it isn’t half bad.
May Andersen said,
August 19, 2007 @ 10:23 am
May Andersen…
I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read….
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