Why a series of number should not be illegal
Right now I’m risking breaking the law. Why? Because I’m about to type this:
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Yep that series of numbers is against the law for me to type and post publicly? Why? It’s just a hex code, I know. It could mean anything. In fact it describes these colors – 
But it also describes something else. A certain encryption code that the movie industry doesn’t want known.
This is an excellent example of why these kinds of encryption schemes don’t work as law. It’s code. Code can be reverse engineered, repurposed, and reused. You just can’t make the code itself illegal. It’s information. Making it illegal is meaningless. It’s certainly reasonable to make breaking encryption illegal, but you can’t stop information, especially digital info.
So Digg gets into trouble because people can use it for what it’s for, spreading information.
Meanwhile it’s perfectly legal to post information on how to pick locks. It’s legal to post info on the basics of making nuclear bombs. It’s legal and it should be legal to explain how to make a homemade bomb. But it’s illegal for me to type that hex code up there. Priorities are way out of whack.
