Los Angeles - The user-edited news aggregation site Digg.com has seen a revolt by its users over the past 24 hours, after administrators first tried to delete mentions of a key that can unlock the security on HD DVD discs, later capitulating to the community and in the process opening itself to potential litigation from owners of the technology.

After Digg received a cease-and-desist letter from lawyers for companies that developed the security technology, the company began removing posts that contained the alpha-numeric string that comprises the HD DVD hack -- prompting its users to flood the site with similar posts, including a YouTube video in which the code was relayed in song form.

Digg CEO Kevin Rose soon after told members in a blog posting that Digg would stop removing the posts.

"You'd rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won't delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be," Rose wrote.

"If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying."

The AACS (Advanced Access Content System) Licensing Authority -- which represents developers of the security on HD DVD and Blu-ray discs -- recently sent a similar cease-and-desist letter to BoingBoing blog contributor Cory Doctorow, after students in a copyright class he teaches at USC posted the code on a class blog.

Unlike Digg, Doctorow redacted the code from the class blog, "on advice from lawyers."

Related Links:
http://blog.digg.com/?p=73

http://blog.digg.com/?p=74

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/04/30/aacs_drm_body_censor.html

http://uscpwned.blogspot.com/2007/02/holy-grail-located-hd-dvd-and-blu-ray.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-revolt3may03,0,1001452.story

http://tinyurl.com/252mfe (Ars Technica)

http://www.aacsla.com

http://www.digg.com