Two days ago I saw a post in the home page of digg which shows an encryption code which kind of useful to crack high definition DVD or blueray disc. I initially was stunned and the thought something dodgy going on. Yet with my human instinct I digged the post and visited page linked to that, in which author was ranting about how movie association can copyright a 16 digits (no proof there about copyright). Well when I saw digg again this news kind of being voted very very fast(saw numbers changing in few seconds). Strangely when I revisited the site I found the news story gone, I then ignored the situations and went away to do some other things on the net.
Today to my surprise when I visited pligg forums I found many people were discussing digg and HD DVD code and when I visited the digg and other sites like slashdot I was astonished to discover what has happened. I found that sudden deletion of the news triggered revolt by diggers!(sorry tongue slip I meant digg community) which led to repeatedly digging similar or related post and even the posts which contain strong negative comments about digg. Initial response was admin team trying to police the community by deleating links, putting stern message in digg blog, showing terms and conditions, and even blocking users. But effort is laughable compare 10 million strong digg community vs. 20 to max 30 digg admins. There is no match. Finally at a point digg admin felt sense of defeat and accepted the greatness and strength of community by joining it (note the post by Kevin Rose digg founder about the HD DVD code got digged max this year so far, 30272 diggs so far digg it, it was made popular with in 3 minutes).
The implications of today’s events are large, todays web is getting more interactive and more virtual(note secondlife, world of warcraft). The web world is anarchy; rules are there but no leader or no policing system (Though some governments like US monitor and keep scanning it but it is only for limited purposes I feel). Users exist and demand rights, but are all rights legal if not where does line end. Can people copyright string of numbers, if they can, can users reveal it at their own will and revolt if stopped. I always found digg community bit obsessive on what kind of content get digged or buried, but last two days proved that they are obsessive to infinity.
My interest in virtual world community grows day by day. Virtual world rules changes every day, and days like this make thinkers to plan a better future(for virtual world) and better Matrix.
