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Free Speech Flag

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Free Speech Flag
Free Speech Flag
UseOther
Proportion2:3 or 3:5
AdoptedMay 1, 2007
DesignShades of green, pink, and blue stripes, with byte "C0" appended in bottom right corner
Designed byJohn Marcotte

The Free Speech Flag was designed by artist John Marcotte, to be used as a symbol to promote freedom of speech. The design of the flag and its colors correspond to a cryptographic key which enabled users to copy HD DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. It was created on May 1, 2007, during the AACS encryption key controversy.

Marcotte was motivated to create the flag after the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator, LLC (AACS LA) began issuing cease and desist letters to websites publishing the key 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 (commonly referred to as 09 F9). Netizens publicized the cryptographic key on the website Digg in response to the actions by the organizations attempting to remove its presence from the Internet, thereby leading to the Streisand effect. The Free Speech Flag became a symbol in support of personal liberties.

Background

On April 30, 2007, a blogger called Rudd-O published the encryption key for HD DVDs and asked readers to "Spread this number".[1] Knowledge of this numeric key value allowed users to bypass the digital rights management (DRM) on HD DVDs.[1][2] With knowledge of this encryption key, users were able to copy HD DVDs that previously could not be duplicated.[1] News media reported on this development. At the time, Digg, a news aggregator and social media website, provided a way for users to vote on which stories they felt were most newsworthy and therefore move them to the front page of the website.[1][2][3] 15,000 Digg website users drove an article about the encryption key to the front page of the site.[1][3]

The Advanced Access Content System (AACS) sent a cease and desist letter to Digg on May 1, 2007.[1][2][4] The AACS was the organization which controlled access to the HD DVD encryption key.[1][2][3] Articles by numerous journalists reporting on the news story were posted to Digg.[1][2][3] The AACS claimed in its letter to Digg that by publishing news articles on its website that reported on the encryption key, the website itself was engaging in illegal activity.[1][2][4] Jay Adelson, the CEO of Digg, announced that the website would abide by the AACS' requests and self-censor articles reporting on the encryption key.[1][2][4]

Wikinews has related news:

Adelson's decision to self-censor his website caused an unintended backlash from the Digg community in the form of the Streisand effect. Digg users made sure, by their votes and online participation, that all front-page stories on Digg were about the encryption key.[1][2][4] Digg founder Kevin Rose observed: "The Digg community is one that loves to have their voice heard, and this has been something that struck a chord with them.[2] Author Jeremy Goldman wrote in his 2012 book Going Social: "In trying to make the cracked issue go away, the AACS's letter (and Digg's response) succeeded only in making the story bigger."[2] Rose heard his community's complaints about Digg's self-censorship, and wrote a message to his users.[3] He stated that Digg would stop self-censorship of news stories about the encryption key, and that he understood the message from his website's community: "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 to a bigger company. Effective immediately, we won't delete stories or comments containing the code, and we will deal with whatever the consequences might be."[1][2][3]

Design and message

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The hex code format colors of the flag are #09F911 #029D74 #E35BD8 #4156C5 #635688.[5] Marcotte appended the byte "C0" to the bottom right corner of the flag to state that the act of publishing a number is "Crime Zero".[5]

Marcotte published an image of the flag design on the website Badmouth on May 1, 2007.[5] Originally, regarding copyright of the flag he stated: "We give this flag away freely, and also give away the rights for people to make similar, derivative works."[5] Marcotte subsequently licensed it via "public domain".[6][7]

In his post he was critical of how numbers had become intellectual property.[5] He wrote: "We want to start a movement, a movement to reclaim personal liberties and decorporatize the laws of our nation."[5] His message exhorted others to freely publicize his work: "To that end we have made a flag, a symbol to show support for personal freedoms. Spread it as far and wide as you can."[5]

Impact

PlayStation 3 Free speech flag, created in honor of the original Free Speech Flag.[8]

The Free Speech Flag entered popular culture by other creative methods Netizens chose to spread knowledge of the HD DVD encryption key.[9] These included wearing the code emblazoned on T-shirts, and creating music utilizing its numeric values.[9] Musician Keith Burgun wrote a song using the code titled "Oh Nine, Eff Nine", and published his work on YouTube.[1][9][10]

Assistant Professor, and Program Director of Visual Art & Technology at the Stevens Institute of Technology, Jeff Thompson was inspired by the Free Speech Flag, and created a sound file of the AACS encryption key as a melody.[11] After a similar encryption key was cracked for the PlayStation 3 gaming system, a new flag was created by a different user as a form of tribute to Marcotte's original flag.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Li, Charlene; Josh Bernoff (2011). Groundswell (Expanded and Revised ed.). Harvard Business Review Press. pp. 3–8, 288–289. ISBN 978-1-4221-6198-2.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Goldman, Jeremy (2012). Going Social. Amacom. pp. 126–127. ISBN 978-0-8144-3255-6.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barlow, Aaron (2007). Blogging America. Praeger. pp. 62–65. ISBN 978-0-275-99872-1.
  4. ^ a b c d Jaffe, Joseph. Join the Conversation. Wiley. pp. 90–92. ISBN 978-0-470-13732-1.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Marcotte, John (May 1, 2007). "Free Speech Flag". Badmouth.net. Archived from the original on May 4, 2007. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  6. ^ Crofton, Isaak (2015). Crypto Anarchy. p. 160. ISBN 978-1-329-05980-1.
  7. ^ Kiyuna, A.; L. Conyers (2015). Cyberwarfare Sourcebook. p. 291. ISBN 978-1-329-06394-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b S, Ben (March 1, 2011). "46 DC EA D3 17 FE 45 D8 09 23 EB 97 E4 95 64 10 D4 CD B2 C2". Yale Law & Technology. Archived from the original on March 10, 2011. Retrieved September 24, 2015. A 'PS3 Flag', an homage to its predecessor, the 'Free Speech Flag'
  9. ^ a b c Bushell-embling, Dylan (May 15, 2007). "Digg finds the key is safety in numbers". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  10. ^ Burgun, Keith (May 1, 2007). "Oh Nine, Eff Nine". YouTube. Retrieved September 25, 2015. A very personal song ... Lyrics: "09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0"
  11. ^ Thompson, Jeff (August 13, 2011). "AACS encryption key". Jeff Thompson. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015. An example of this is the so-called 'Free Speech Flag', seen above.

Further reading

  • Bennett, James (2011). "Architectures of Participation". Television as Digital Media. Duke University Press Books. pp. 351–355. ISBN 978-0-8223-4910-5.
  • Girard, John (2009). "The Future Is Just a Day Away". A Leader's Guide to Knowledge Management. Business Expert Press. pp. 109–112. ISBN 978-1-60649-018-1.
  • Tapscott, Don (2008). "The Net Generation as Consumers". Grown Up Digital. McGraw-Hill Education. pp. 188–190. ISBN 978-0-07-150863-6.
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