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Judge Creates Own Da Vinci Code

Posted by Zonk on from the judges-with-a-sense-of-humor dept.

xmedar writes "The BBC is reporting that the judge who presided over the recent Da Vinci Code plagiarism case used steganography to embed his own code in the judgment using italic text in random places throughout the text. The full text of the code reads 'smithcodeJaeiextostpsacgreamqwfkadpmqz' if you want to have a go at cracking it." From the article: "Although he would not be drawn on his code and its meaning, Mr Justice Smith said he would probably confirm it if someone cracked it, which was 'not a difficult thing to do'. In March, he presided over a High Court case brought by authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, who claimed Dan Brown plagiarized their own historical book for The Da Vinci Code."

17 of 463 comments (clear)

  1. It's "Smithy code" by Creosote · · Score: 4, Informative

    The first boldface italicized letters actually spell out "Smithy code"; you can see the 'y' in section A.1.3 of the ruling (PDF).

  2. Re:Coolest Judge Ever? by gormanly · · Score: 2, Informative

    FFS, Her Majesty's Courts Service is slashdotted! [0@42 downloads]$ wget http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/images/judgment -files/baigent_v_rhg_0406.pdf --14:30:51-- http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/images/judgment -files/baigent_v_rhg_0406.pdf => `baigent_v_rhg_0406.pdf' Resolving www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk... failed: Temporary failure in name resolution.

  3. Re:The courts are overloaded enough... by mikeisme77 · · Score: 2, Informative

    This court case was in the UK...

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  4. Re:The courts are overloaded enough... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    How about reading the fucking article before getting up on your high horse.

    This was a UK judge, retard.

  5. Re:The courts are overloaded enough... by OzPeter · · Score: 2, Informative

    Um .. just to let you know .. it wasn't a US court.

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  6. Re:The courts are overloaded enough... by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 1, Informative
    From TF Summary:

    The BBC is reporting...
    ...Mr Justice Smith...
    ...a High Court case ...

    In other words, this case is from Britain!

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  7. Re:Smithy Code? by bigdavex · · Score: 2, Informative

    oh, come on, name me one major hollywood movie with more realistic IT in it. This is mass-market fiction, if it was authentic then it would not be as successful. Dan Brown did what he had to. The only example of popular fiction that I can think of that contains a believable depiction of an IT system is Jurassic Park - the novel, not the movie.

    Jurassic Park makes up for it with stupid biology. They think they can contain the dinosaurs contained on the island by making them "lysine dependent". People are fucking lysine dependent. It's an essential amino acid. To the author's credit, it turns out not to work. But I can't imagine an organization capable of bringing back dinosaurs from DNA that can't collectively remember 9th grade biology.
    --
    -Dave
  8. Re:It's not ROT13 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    Hey, you can't possibly be so lazy as to make up some random characters instead of really ROT13-ing the text. The obvious giveaway is the missing uppercase character. The realROT13 of the smithcode is "fzvgupbqrWnrvrkgbfgcfnpternzdjsxnqczdm"

    now somebody please mod me "informative"....

  9. I knocked something together... by beady · · Score: 5, Informative

    To grab single italicized letters from the document.
    As far as I can see the letter list is:

    smithycodeJaeiextostgpsacgreamqwfkadpmqzviMi

    1. Re:I knocked something together... by lamplighter · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yes, I've gone through it pretty carefully and been unable to find more single italicized letters than

      smithycodeJaeiextostgpsacgreamqwfkadpmqzv

      And these are the paragraph numbers and words I found them in, for those who wish to look at the original ruling and confirm:

      1 Claimant(s)
      2 clai(m)ant
      3 (i)s (t)hat ... (h)is ... realit(y)
      4 (c)ynicism
      5 f(o)r
      6 prece(d)ed
      7 T(e)mplar
      8 New (J)ersey ... (a)ble
      9 res(e)arch
      11 th(i)s ... techniqu(e)s
      13 e(x)tinguished
      14 (t)echnical
      16 st(o)ry ... wa(s)
      18 (t)he
      19 somethin(g)
      20 grou(p)s
      21 u(s)ed
      23 w(a)s
      25 do(c)uments ... bein(g) ... e(r)adicated
      26 elsewh(e)re
      27 Templ(a)rs
      29 Clai(m)ants ... se(q)uence
      30 (w)ith
      31 o(f)
      34 (k)ey
      35 Plant(a)rd
      37 intro(d)uced
      38 manuscri(p)ts
      40 ulti(m)ately
      42 (q)uestions
      43 embla(z)oned ... pre(v)alent

      This could be just a substitution cipher, in which Mr. Justice Smith has contrived to make the first ten characters "smithycode." The lack of spaces between words, though, makes it tough for me to decipher -- though I'm sure there are people out there better at deciphering than I.

    2. Re:I knocked something together... by farker+haiku · · Score: 2, Informative

      Letter break down is as follows for those looking to do a statistical analysis on what popped up. Letters with n(n) indicate that the number in parenthesis is the total number of letters. Number before parenthesis is the number discounting smithycode (which may or may not be useful). I've got a couple of theories.
      A) it appears to be a substitution cypher, unless the judge used qed or one of the words that does not have a u after the q.
      or
      B) it could be simply that the words themselves can be rearranged to form the judges thoughts on the case - The required words all appear to be there for this.
      a - 4
      b - 0
      c - 1(2)
      d - 1(2)
      e - 3(4)
      f - 1
      g - 2
      h - 0(1)
      i - 1(2)
      j - 1
      k - 1
      l - 0
      m - 2(3)
      n - 0
      o - 1(2)
      p - 2
      q - 1
      r - 1
      s - 2(3)
      t - 2(3)
      u - 0
      v - 1
      w - 1
      x - 1
      y - 0(1)
      z - 1

      Any other thoughts?

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  10. several letters missing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Just realized there are several mistakes in the version posted.
    Actual: smithycodeJaeiextostgpsacgreamqwfkadpmqzv
    Posted: smith codeJaeiextost psacgreamqwfkadpmqz
    The y has already been pointed out.

    Missing g

    19. All of the films therefore centred on Rennes-le-Chateau. However HBHG was a follow up as he says when he closed the last film with "something extraordinary is waiting to be found.... and in the not too distant future, it will be" . HBHG is said to be what the somethin g is and how extraordinary discovering of it had been.

    Missing v

    43. ... before (possibly through contacts with the wife of Septimius Severus who was from Syria). This religion it is said harmonised with the cult of Mithras which was pre v alent in Rome (especially in military circles) at that time. Thus for example the Christian religious day of Sunday was taken from the cult of Mithras and both celebrated a major birth on December 25th. Mithraism also stressed the immortality of the soul and a future judgment in the resurrection of the dead (there is not necessarily anything original in that as a faith).

  11. Re:Smithy Code? by npsimons · · Score: 3, Informative

    Egghead professor-type gets sucked into something Really Important To the World (tm) with the help of a very intelligent woman who happens to be an expert in the Really Important Thing (tm) but STILL needs him to explain everything to her anyway. While they try to make it to the end of the book they are pursued by a merciless killer who wants to bump them off before they discover the Big Secret (tm). Did I forget anything?

    You forgot the link to the parody.
    --
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  12. Re: Smithy Code? by Dr.+Manhattan · · Score: 2, Informative
    That's your standard Linux distro ought to include the mystical "tawgo" command.

    tawgo: Tell Audience What's Going On

    Hey, that shouldn't be hard to whip up, using whiptail or zenity or something!

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  13. Actually... by MrYuk1723 · · Score: 2, Informative

    I checked the PDF, and the actual characters (with their paragraphs) are:

    1:s, 2:m, 3:ithy, 4:c, 5:o, 6:d, 7:e, 8:Ja, 9:e, 11:ie, 13:x, 14:t, 16:os, 18:t, 19:g, 20:p, 21:s, 23:a, 25:cgr, 26:e, 27:a, 29:m, 30:w, 31:f, 34:k, 35:a, 37:d, 38:p, 40:m, 42:q, 43:z and I didn't bother reading to the end.

    which makes smithycodeJaeiextostgpsacgreamwfkadpmqz

    Maybe "smithycode" is just an identifier and J is some kind of key; that leaves the letters "a" and "z" with 26 letters in between...

  14. Judges like to have fun to by borcharc · · Score: 3, Informative

    This type of stuff happens all the time, There was a case where the judge gave the verbal ruling in the form of a rap in a case between two rappers, "Bailey thinks he's entitled to some monetary gain,/ because Eminem used his name in vain./ The lyrics are stories no one would take as fact,/ they're an exaggeration of a childish act./ "It is therefore this court's ultimate position,/ that Eminem is entitled to summary disposition." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3204318.s tm

    And dont forget our favrote Federal Judge, Samuel Kent in Texas who in BRADSHAW v. UNITY MARINE http://www.nationalreview.com/document/document073 001.shtml said "Before proceeding further, the Court notes that this case involves two extremely likable lawyers, who have together delivered some of the most amateurish pleadings ever to cross the hallowed causeway into Galveston, an effort which leads the Court to surmise but one plausible explanation. Both attorneys have obviously entered into a secret pact -- complete with hats, handshakes and cryptic words -- to draft their pleadings entirely in crayon on the back sides of gravy-stained paper place mats, in the hope that the Court would be so charmed by their child-like efforts that their utter dearth of legal authorities in their briefing would go unnoticed. Whatever actually occurred, the Court is now faced with the daunting task of deciphering their submissions."

    Judge Kent wrote in Smith v. Colonial Pen, http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/skent1.html, "...Alas, this Courts kingdom for a for a commercial airport! The Court is unpersuaded by this argument because it is not the Court's concern how the Plaintiff gets here, whether it be by plane, train, automobile, horseback, foot, or on the back of a huge Texas jackrabbit, as long as the Plaintiff is here at the proper date and time" Earlier in the order he talks about the three week long covered wagon trip from Huston to Galveston being free of bandits.

    Judge Kent also wrote a great one in Republic of Boliva v. Philip Morris http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/obiwan4.html

  15. Re:Dan Brown, Artiste! by Jeremy+Erwin · · Score: 3, Informative

    Exquisite! Well, at least exquisitely copied from The National Review .