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Censoring a Number

Rudd-O writes "Months after successful discovery of the HD-DVD processing key, an unprecedented campaign of censorship, in the form of DMCA takedown notices by the MPAA, has hit the Net. For example Spooky Action at a Distance was killed. More disturbingly, my story got Dugg twice, with the second wave hitting 15,500 votes, and today I found out it had simply disappeared from Digg. How long until the long arm of the MPAA gets to my own site (run in Ecuador) and the rest of them holding the processing key? How long will we let rampant censorship go on, in the name of economic interest?" How long before the magic 16-hex-pairs number shows up in a comment here?

42 of 1,046 comments (clear)

  1. Not very long... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

    1. Re:Not very long... by dr_strang · · Score: 5, Funny

      What would be cool is if everyone put the key in their sig.

      --
      This is a sig. It is like every other sig in the world, except that it is mine, and it is different.
    2. Re:Not very long... by TypoNAM · · Score: 5, Funny

      09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0? That's amazing! I've got the same IPv6 address on my luggage!

      --
      This space is not for rent.
    3. Re:Not very long... by Tackhead · · Score: 5, Funny
      > 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0? That's amazing! I've got the same IPv6 address on my luggage!

      That's a great key! I'm gonna use it on Spaceballs: The HD-DVD!

    4. Re:Not very long... by fm6 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Damn it Locke! I don't care if the world ends! I'm not typing in those damn numbers every 108 minutes!

    5. Re:Not very long... by mmontour · · Score: 5, Funny

      I saw it on an earlier comment to something else and tried typing it into a hex convertor to find out what the secret message was! Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.
    6. Re:Not very long... by Poltras · · Score: 5, Funny

      "The Search for More Money"

    7. Re:Not very long... by snoyberg · · Score: 5, Funny

      If only there was a way to search for that number so many times it became one of the top searches. Then Google would be "publishing" that number when they publish their search statistics. I can see it now:
      1. pr0n
      2. Britney Spears
      3. 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
      4. pr0n
      --
      Thank God for evolution.
    8. Re:Not very long... by Adam+Zweimiller · · Score: 5, Interesting

      On a serious note, I am the owner of hdkeys.com, and I have felt the full brunt of this censorship. I established the site back when BackupHDDVD was released, and modified the source adding the ability for the program to automatically retrieve volume keys from the site when they were not found in the local key database. In addition, there was a searchable form on the index page where you could lookup keys. At first, I received a DMCA takedown sent to my dedicated host provider (Layered Technologies), demanding that my hosted copy of BackupHDDVD be removed. This demand arrived at the same time Sourceforge received a similar letter. A month or so passed by and I received another letter, this time through my registrar, GoDaddy, demanding that I remove all the volume keys from the site or be sued out of house and home. In addition, the second letter dictated that I must call the law firm and inform them that I have complied. I complied, but did not notify them. The site has been offline since then. As far as I'm concerned, they demanded something of me, it's up to them to confirm that I have complied. So in recap, I've been threatened, strong armed, and intimidated (you should have read those letters), via my webhost and registrar for simply hosting:

      A) A textbook implementation of the AACS protocol and
      B) Hex strings

      Yeah, America rules.

      --
      mmm...muffins
    9. Re:Not very long... by Talisein · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Did you mean 10 base 13,256,278,887,989,457,651,018,865,901,401,704,640 ?

      --
      "The right to do something does not mean doing it is right." William Safire
    10. Re:Not very long... by Darby · · Score: 5, Funny

      Also the the story fell apart in the last 100 pages or so, kind of like Stephenson just stopped caring and wanted to get the thing done.

      How right you are...

      Now.....which one of his books were you talking about again?

    11. Re:Not very long... by beej · · Score: 5, Funny

      I wonder if you'd get busted passing around this one:

      13,256,278,887,989,457,651,018,865,901,401,704,640

      or this one

      1001 11111001 00010001 00000010 10011101 01110100 11100011 01011011 11011000 01000001 01010110 11000101 01100011 01010110 10001000 11000000

      All your base are belong to us.

    12. Re:Not very long... by Rei · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Perhaps I can be the first to post a pneumonic (subtract one from the length of each word):

      "A linguistic characterization downgrades it to a wee difficulty, characterizing behemoth codes (extrajudicially made inside monopolizing, unincorporated conspires lying to impose devious macroeconomic tricks) through wise coding." -- Mocking Comically Absurdist Commercialism I.

      09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

      --
      "It felt almost as good as stealing cars from grandma." -- Margaret Thatcher, probably.
    13. Re:Not very long... by autophile · · Score: 5, Funny

      Perhaps I can be the first to post a pneumonic (subtract one from the length of each word):

      Well, someone had to blow some air into this meme!

      --Rob

      --
      Towards the Singularity.
    14. Re:Not very long... by jesboat · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Am I the first to post Base64? "CfkRAp1041vYQVbFY1aIwA"

      Or, an even better idea...

      If you treat the hex string as a sequence of unsigned big-endian U16s, and then look up the sequence of corresponding words in OSX's password dictionary, you get "edit view phosphor beautified sorcerous crushed kneader deadline".

  2. 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 by freakmn · · Score: 5, Informative

    I was amazed at the quickness of the censors, when I clicked on the link here, and got the "Nothing to see here, please move along." message. I've often seen people say that they got that message, but was never quite sure if it actually happened. This time it did. In cooperation with the summary, here's the number: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

    --
    warning: This post is likely to contain gobs of dripping sarcasm. Consume at your own risk.
    1. Re:09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 by poena.dare · · Score: 5, Funny

      I also hear there is a website devoted 2 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 by some guy in Scottlande or someplace. They say he's really crazy 'cuz his wife went into labor the day discovered 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 an she wouldn't let him look at 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 so when they got home from the hospital he cut her up and buried her in teh yard and then ate his own baby with some chips, oh delicious chips. So they caught him but he managed to memorize 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 and smuggled it into prison with him and the other convicts tried too take it away from him in the shower so he cut them up and ate them to, in fact he went on a rampage and ate all th prison guards with some chips, oh delicious chips. And then he sat down at th warden's desk and stared at 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 only stopping when he had 2 pee in a potted plant in th corner of the room. After memorizing 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 he found th prison surrounded by teh Army and there was a guy on a bullhorn named Dr. Quartermass who was telling him 2 put down teh fork and come out with his hands up. But he managed to escape through the sewers and they couldn't catch him but they found his bag of chips, oh delicious chips. They say he's still hiding too this day in th mountains of Scotchland, th Alpes, updating his website with 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 every day. They also say of your are backpacking in the Alpes that you'd better not carry any chips, oh delicious chips. They say they'll never catch him 2 because there are laws that protect mountain people and the police are scared too go up there. But he has 2 come to a city once a month on teh seventh day and he breaks into a house that has a computer and he types 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 over and over and he eats anyone at home with chips, oh delicious chips. So the police are hoping to catch him when he goes 2 the city but so far he's eaten over 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 people and 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 bags of chips, oh delicious chips so it seems like there is no stopping him. You may think I'm making all this up but it's the truth and I know it cause I asked my friend who works at the MPAA and it said it's true so it is.

  3. Google Mirror by algae · · Score: 5, Funny
    --
    Causation can cause correlation
  4. I hope we'll all stop it soon. by Tiger+Smile · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Time to get out and use the old pen to write a nice little letter to my congress critter.

    I'm all for someone using their rights to protect what is their's. Not a problem, but when it dictates what they can do with the things they own, and speech, I think it has crossed a line I'd rather it not cross.

    Some say Americans just take the abuse and can't see what the big deal is, unless it might cause re-runs of Friends to be pulled. Some people say Americans are sheep and will go where a select class of people point for them to go. I have sometimes seen these rights dry up a little when not constantly defended, and I start to think American's are lemmings, not sheep.

    I guess I'm just as guilty as everyone else. I'm no fool. I can see I'm like that also, but I'm trying really hard to be different.

    Short Answer: It all stops when we all stop it.

    --
    -- Prepared at the direction of, or to be sent to Legal Counsel, in anticipation of litigation. Attorney Client Pri
  5. Don't use this one by demonlapin · · Score: 5, Funny

    04 08 15 16 23 42

    1. Re:Don't use this one by TonyZahn · · Score: 5, Funny

      That code seems to work, but for some strange reason I have to re-enter it every 108 minutes...

      --
      - sig? who is this sig of which you speak?
  6. Bittorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    09

    1. Re:Bittorrent by KingKiki217 · · Score: 5, Funny

      E3

    2. Re:Bittorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      56

  7. Poetry Contest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh nine, eff nine, one one oh too!
    Nine dee, seven four, eee three, five bee.
    Dee ate for one,
    Five six,
    See five,
    Six three, five six, ate eight sea oh!

  8. Civil Disobedience by ewhac · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I repudiate the DMCA, and all who would enforce it. It is a corrupt law, born of a corrupt process, in the service of corrupt people. As such, I will not respect or observe it, and you shouldn't, either.

    The media processing key for AACS is: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

    Schwab

  9. For those keeping score at home.... by ReverendLoki · · Score: 5, Funny

    The score so far:

    Posts mentioning the infamous hex 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0: 25
    Posts remarking how they have the same number as their luggage combination: 5

    Stay tuned, folks, the game ain't over yet!

    --
    09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
  10. Wikipedia article on the number is down too. by sabre86 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When I read this slashdot post, the first thing I thought was "I bet there's a wikipedia article on it!" Sure enough, either somebody has posted one and it's been deleted and protected, or the editors went ahead and jumped on it and protected it. (I haven't checked yet, though there are "additional information links. Nor have I check it in other bases.)

    Guess I should look into postng this to one of the "anti-censorship on wikipeida" sites.

    For what it's worth, this is utter crap, but it shows a severe weakness in copyright law. Anything that can be represented with data, anything at all, can be encoded/encrpyted on anything else, given an arbitrary coding mechanism. For instance, let us create "sabre86's stanard coding scheme": add 1 to any number. After encoding we have 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C1. Look, it's a different number! I guess it isn't a circumvention. Or is it?

    You can extend this logic arbitarily to anything, so that not only can any string represent any other string (and thus be a "copy"), any string can be the key to an encoding scheme, meaning that posting any string is "circumvention" if I see fit to describe my encryption process such that it encrypts/encodes a copyrighted work using that string as a "key."

    So all strings are copyrighted because they can derived from other copyrighted strings through an arbitrary encoding scheme and all strings are potentially circumventions of DRM/CRAP because they are both a representation of a known key in a different encoding and the key for some other arbitrary encryption algorithm that "circumvents the copyright protections."

    Bullshit

    --sabre86

  11. Tag by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If ever a story deserved to be tagged hex09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0 then it's this one. Remember, your tag must start with an alphabetical character, and it takes a lot more tagging than it used to to get up there in lights.

  12. Check my signature by killmenow · · Score: 5, Funny

    Look at old posts. I've been using that exact sequence of hex digits as my signature on posts since the beginning.

  13. You can't claim Copyright on a random crypto key by burris · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm sorry, but you can't claim Copyright on a randomly generated cryptographic key. That is because a randomly generated key does not meet the minimum creativity requirements of Copyright law. No creative input == No Copyright. The bar is very low but a randomly generated key patently does not meet it.

  14. This is (now) a famous number-theory integer! by Doug+Merritt · · Score: 5, Funny
    This is merely a very famous (from now on, hint, hint) number theory curiosity:

    09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
    is the hexadecimal representation (with leading zero to round off to 32 hex digits) of

    13256278887989457651018865901401704640 decimal
    which amazingly enough, is equal to the huge prime number

    13256278887989457651018865901401704613 + 3^3 (i.e. + 27)

    Astonishingly, the next prime after that is only 31 away, so our famous number can also be represented as

    13256278887989457651018865901401704671 - 31

    It is also very interesting because it is also equal to the product of the following prime numbers:

    2^6 * 5 * 19 * 12043 * 216493 * 836256503069278983442067

    Truthfully, when was the last time you saw any remotely similar number? Never, right? We better record this for mathematical posterity!!! :-)

    --
    Professional Wild-Eyed Visionary
    1. Re:This is (now) a famous number-theory integer! by Doug+Merritt · · Score: 5, Funny

      Did you get beat up a lot in school?

      You're making fun of someone for being a nerd on slashdot? You must be joking.

      Yes, I was a famous/infamous nerd in high school, and I gloried in it. I also had girlfriends in high school; did you, O anonymous coward?

      As for your literal question of getting beat up a lot, I was not just a big time nerd, I was also 6 foot 2 inches, an athlete, was a friendly extrovert, and had social skills; not all nerds fit your stereotype. Now my nerdiness supports my career as a computer engineer. How's your fast food job treating you? ;-)

      (You could have just come right out and asked what a prime number is, you know; you don't have to launch an attack each of the many times every day that you feel ignorant.)

      "He who laughs last laughs best."

      --
      Professional Wild-Eyed Visionary
  15. As a program by Alioth · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A novel way of saying it.


                    add hl,bc
                    ld sp,hl
                    ld de,09d02h
                    ld (hl),h
                    ex (sp),hl
                    ld e,e
                    ret c
                    ld b,c
                    ld d,(hl)
                    push bc
                    ld h,e
                    ld d,(hl)
                    adc a,b
                    ret nz

  16. Re:cheat mode by Miseph · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wow, it really works!

    One problem though, I used it to watch attack of the clones, hoping to see some Natalie Portman hawtness, and was instead rendered impotent by Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen.

    Turns out, the key only works for actors, and does nothing for actresses.

    --
    Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.
  17. The T-Shirt by AoT · · Score: 5, Informative
    1. Re:The T-Shirt by jamshid · · Score: 5, Funny

      It should say "Registered Hex Offender".

  18. Re:This is actually my HOPE for the future by pnewhook · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe companies should understand that secure encryption is impossible when you have several thousand geeks running around with a computer, no social skills, and way too much idle time on their hands.

    --
    Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
  19. Re:This is actually my HOPE for the future by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The mere fact that geeks regularly cooperate on a massive scale (i'd hazard the only people who cooperate on a larger scale are organised religions) illustrates that we do not lack the social skills necessary for our society.

  20. Simpsons reference by Old+Wolf · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'd like to see this on the next start sequence of the Simpsons! Bart writing on the blackboard:

        I must not write 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
        I must not write 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
        I must not write 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
        I must not write 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 ...

  21. So, logically.. by AJWM · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If they're so upset about people saying what the processing key is, then surely they'd have no problem with saying what it's not.

    --
    -- Alastair
  22. Put the number in your user agent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    For extra fun, you can put the number in your user agent string. Since plenty of server logs are public, the number will be in lots of log files all over the place.

    In Firefox, you can append a comment to the default existing user-agent string, by visiting about:config and adding a string property with the key general.useragent.extra.firefoxComment

    Whatever you put in there is added to the end of the user agent string that is sent with every request your browser makes. Mine is now:

    Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.8.1.3) Gecko/20070426 Firefox/2.0.0.3 Version 13,256,278,887,989,457,651,018,865,901,401,704,640

    Thanks to ludwik on digg for the suggestion.