[WikiEN-l] HD DVD key mess - OFFICE/Foundation?

[Andrew Lih]

On 5/2/07, Joe Szilagyi <szilagyi at gmail.com> wrote:
> I noticed today that the Internets civil war or whatever that is underway
> for this has spread to Wikipedia, to the point it's now on DRV:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Deletion_review/Log/2007_May_2#09_9_11_02_9D_74_E3_5B_D8_41_56_C5_63_56_88_C0
>
> Zscout says here:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Zscout370#HD_DVD_Key
>
> "Regardless if it is popular or not, we cannot host the key on here and the
> Foundation has asked us to remove it on sight.
> User:Zscout370<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Zscout370>
> *(Return Fire)* 03:57, 2 May 2007 (UTC)"
>
> Did the WMF take that official stance? Where, if I missed it? The specific
> number/value I don't believe can be even copyrighted in the United States.
>
> Keep in mind that the hex/number itself is now notable.

That is not true. I was in IRC when Zscout370 uttered it and
immediately pointed out that it was the case.

Rather, there was an overwhelming consensus of folks in the IRC en:
admins channel that excising that hex string was the right thing to
do.

That is, allow no article by the name, no mention in obvious articles
(HD-DVD, encryption, etc), no users by that name, no categories by
that name, no links by that name, no base 10 variants of that name,
etc. Believe me, the Digg activists tried any and all of those
tactics.

And even though there is some quibbling at the DRV, the admins have
pretty much been on the same page (no pun intended) on this issue.
It's not a matter of notability, copyvio, or CSD. It's a matter of
making sure Wikipedia content does not run afoul of the DMCA re:
circumvention technology.

I'm glad that by and large, reason won out during the cyber-revolt and
the community held its ground.

-Andrew (User:Fuzheado)