Am I Famous Now…

So there is a whole controversy going on around Digg. Visit Tony, Duncan, Scrivs, Michael, Mathew and visit IceRocket for more. But what did really happen yesterday?

Was this about Digg, Digg going down?
Was this about the corporate power?

Or are we really seeing a revolution going on right now?

HD-DVD and many other new copyright protection technologies developed in the last years have been thightly integrated into each other :HDCP, Windows Vista, iTunes and it’s codec, DRM and many more.
I remember having signed the online petition Against TCPA some years ago when the first Windows Palladium Vista Builds were handed out to testers and magazines. TCPA and Palladium were rights management concepts supported by the media, actually required by the entertainment industry and MS, together with many more e-corporations, had to integrate this technology in new platforms to get codecs and be able to actually play the new formats. CD-Burners able to bypass protection systems would not be supported or recognized by the new Windows OS anymore, BIOS protectiond against illegal hardware was to be expecte, your old monitor would not play certain formats if not certified as rip imcompatible (read: if not HDCP certified) and so on.

Years have gone by, and although there has been harsh protest (on and offline), many of those entertainment industry required protections have found their way into our office, and living rooms. Without any fuzz or hype.
Especially the RIAA have been fighting the war against piracy last years and realized the internet became more and more a threat. A real danger.

This of course is nothing new : the Internet has always been the epicenter of software distribution and everything else that could be shared in digital format. Legal or illegal. Linux would not have become this popular without the Usenet, but at the same time the Usenet was the first popular distribution platform of pirated software. And entertainment media.

Sharing technology has never been as easy as today. Even non geeks know how to use torrents. P2P technology finds it way to everyone’s computer every day more and more. And so do illegal downloads. Many people I know, myself included, have only been able to follow American TV series almost simultaneously, together with Americans, thanks to P2P technology and torrents. Most of times one can find uploads of any just aired episode within some hours. And now we reach the core of what really happened this week.

Digg won’t go down. Kevin Rose doesn’t need to be afraid.

But now, after seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you’ve made it clear. You’d rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won’t delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be.
If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying.

There only was one loser yesterday. Two actually.

And the winner loser is…

The media entertainment industry.

RIAA and MPAA, together with any major player have since years been aware of the danger called Internet, but this new technology… HD-DVD was important to them. Very important. A grasp trying to cover many financial losses last years. Finally cinema quality at home, in your living room. And years long almost every technology/hardware around had been protected. Your base are belonging to us.

Not.

It is a surprise to myself, but this time I have to say it : Digg On!
And I am glad the industry finally realized that they have lost the battle and will have to rethink their deonthology.

I hear the brains of the two readers I have grind now : Who is the second loser?

Justice.
But justice follows the evolution and since now the industry officially has to change its policy, justice can’t be called a real loser.

And last but not least… the decryption key? Who cares? Within only some weeks there will be a firmware upgrade for every appliance. A compulsory one, at least if you want to be able to watch future releases. And the internet überground battle against copyright protection will go on.