Users of news aggregator Digg have been flooding the site with articles about a single issue - an encryption key that can be used to get around the DRM on High Definition DVDs.
After users began posting the code on the site, Digg received a cease and desist notice and blocked the stories, but that only prompted the site's users to start flooding it with articles about the code.
At one point, every story on the front page of Digg was about the HD DVD codes, and the top ten stories at the time of writing are all to do with this issue.
In a statement on the Digg blog, founder Kevin Rose said he had decided to block the posts containing the code, fearful that the site would be interrupted or shut down.
He has now decided to take a stand on the issue:
"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."
Further Reading:
Digg uses moderators as users fail to police
'Parasite' invites advertisers to game Digg
Graham Charlton is Editor at Econsultancy. Follow him on Twitter or connect via Linkedin or Google+.
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11:54PM on 2nd May 2007
It is important to note that not all diggers reacted with the same teenage basement mutiny mentality:
http://www.paydayloanaffiliate.com/blog/DiggersVsDigg.aspx
4:43AM on 12th June 2008
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