That’s essentially what happened with Digg as users turned against the site when it made the decision to pull down the code to decrypt the HD DVD format. Digg was pressured by the Advanced Access Content System License Administrator (AACS LA) to pull the posts down. Well, the Digg community, a self-righteous group that not only wants their voice to be heard, but demands it, revolted. As soon as one post came down, they threw up hundreds more. They filled Digg and the rest of the Internet with the code. The hapless few at Digg couldn’t control, and founder Kevin Rose just relinquished and said, OK, you win. We’ll just take the hits as they come.
So, the myopic Digg community may have spelled the end for the site they love so much. Will they be happier that they kept posting the decryption code, yet Digg falls victim to the potential financial pressure of upcoming lawsuits? There are Digg copycats out there. They could always move to another bookmark sharing service and bring it down when it introduces a policy (legal or not) that the community doesn’t agree with.
