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Google, CafePress Struggling with Banned HD DVD Code

As I reported yesterday, Google sent a takedown request to a user after discovering that one of his Google Notebook pages contained the controversial series of hexadecimal numbers used to crack HD DVD copy protection. In a comment on yesterday's post, the user says that Google has now thanked him for removing the offending content -- even though the banned code, 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0, is still in his notebook. All the user did was remove the phrase "HD-DVD Processing Key" -- and that, apparently, was enough to get Google off his back.

Meanwhile, another tipster tells us that after setting up a CafePress store to sell T-shirts sporting the code, he received a note from CafePress.com informing him that his site would not be visible to the public because it contained "material which may not be in compliance with our policies."

Specifically, designing, manufacturing, marketing and/or selling products that may infringe the rights of a third party, including, copyrights (e.g., an image of a television cartoon character), trademarks (e.g., the logo of a company), "rights in gross" (e.g., the exclusive right of the U.S. Olympic Committee to use the "Olympic Rings"), and rights of privacy and publicity (e.g., a photo of a celebrity) are prohibited.

Given that even the EFF offers little solace to people who have published this key (including Wired News), it's not surprising that companies like Google and CafePress are acting aggressively in an attempt to protect themselves from costly legal liabilities.

On the other hand, it is odd that Google should have such a hard time identifying the infringing content, especially when it's so easy to use Google itself to find notebooks with the banned code.

Posted by Dylan Tweney 1:36:47 PM in HD DVD Crack

 

HD DVD Photo Gallery

 

 

A meme isn't really a meme until someone makes an "lol cat" out of it, and for the HD DVD crack, that time has come.  Amidst all of the hexidecimal art containing the crack that's being being posted to Digg right now, a friend spotted this lol cat (from "I Can Has Cheezburger?") peering down at the viewer, as if to say "I have this code, and there is nothing you can do about it."  Sort of fitting.

This riddle is another standout... how can someone copyright the answers to a riddle, when the questions can be recast in an infinite number of ways?  Oh, copyright protection technology, you never cease to amuse.  (More serious coverage coming soon.)

 

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