Spread this number

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

What do those numbers mean, and why are they so important? That number is the HD-DVD processing key for most movies released so far.

This means that using this key, you can decrypt and watch movies on Linux (if you have software available). But that's not the most important part. The Movie Industry is threatening a blog for publishing this number. They claim "copyright infringement" (no doubt, under some ridiculous abuse of the DMCA). I had no idea that a number could be copyrighted.

This information is out on the web and it is spreading fast. The Movie Industry doesn't like this and is trying to threaten people into silence. Digg deleted the original story, and then censored a second submission on the same topic. But there is a very interesting story in the Health section of Digg that deals with training your memory by memorizing a string of 32 alphanumeric characters...

SPREAD THIS NUMBER.

Let the Movie Industry know that they cannot silence us. If one person or website goes down, ten others will spring up in its place. We cracked the copyright protection system on DVD's and it's only a matter of time before we do the same to HD-DVD's and BlueRay discs. The fact that the encryption system was cracked on DVD's is the only reason we can play DVD's on Linux now. The Movie Industry will have you believe that we are a bunch of evil pirates. Nothing is further from the truth. In fact, DRM does nothing to thwart piracy. The existence of a large supply of pirated DVD's is ample proof of that. Anything that can be seen or heard can be copied. Once I buy my DVD, or HD-DVD or BlueRay, I can do whatever the hell I want to do with it. It's my property. I paid for it. I can make as many copies as I want for personal use. They can't tell me what to do. And that's what this is all about.

Once again. Spread this number.

Here are links with more information. I initially found out about this story from Slashdot.

• Slashdot Article: Censoring a Number
• Rudd-O.com: Spread this number (The original "Spread this number" - where the campaign started!)
• wired.com: The New HD-DVD/Blu-Ray Hack: What It Might Mean For Us
• Proof of concept code at doom9
• BackupHDDVD

Update

Ok, so check this out. They sent a cease and desist letter to Google for providing search results that show the key. I seriously wonder how much more retarded these people can get.