I read through this article last night about Digg blocking people from posting the HD-DVD crack. Most of the commenters are moaning on and on about “free speech.”
Normally, I’m not sympathetic to the MPAA. However, in this case it’s really simple to see whether this is a “free speech” issue or not.
What if I were to hack into the computers of people who posted the DVD crack and gather up some personal information (say, credit card numbers, social security number, etc.) and then posted this information on-line? Wouldn’t that be free speech too? I mean, c’mon, they’re just numbers…and no one can “copyright” a number!
While I’m at it, I could post the code to their garage door opener, the code to their burglar alarm, the dates and times when they’re away from home, etc. Again, it’s just a few numbers. And I could post their MySpace passwords too–what’s a few letters along with those numbers? Surely they wouldn’t have a problem with this. It’s “free speech.” It’s not like I would actually use any of these numbers–I’m just making them public! Therefore, I’m not responsible if a depraved crack addict should happen to read what I post and then use these non-copyrighted numbers for his own evil means….
Of course, this reductio should make it obvious that this argument isn’t about free speech. I challenge anyone who thinks otherwise to go ahead and post their confidential information on-line and prove that it doesn’t need to be “private.”
