Wikipedia Moves To Delete the Free Speech Flag 258
decora writes "After a version of the PS3 Free Speech Flag (from the Yale Law & Tech blog) was deleted from Wikipedia, for being a copyright violation, discussion turned to the original Free Speech Flag, from the HD DVD / AACS encryption key controversy. The result is that this flag too (currently in use on six different wikipedias) has now been nominated for deletion."
Re:5 fucking color stripes in a square. (Score:3, Informative)
Sony is just testing the waters to see how far they can go in their "California" matter and Wikipedia just doesn't want to waste resources in the eventual court battle. While I'm not going to applaud Wikipedia, I can't throw too many rocks at them either.
Soon someone big is going to have to deal with it and I get the feeling that it isn't going to be favorable for Sony, who has been pretty reckless since they don't have a wold conquering media format to rest their laurels on. Until then it is probably better for small players with out an army of lawyers, to keep their heads down until this thing comes to an end. Then again if the EFF wants to jump in, more power to them.
Re:5 fucking color stripes in a square. (Score:5, Informative)
Wikipedia doesn't challenge copyright.
For example they removed the List of 210 Television designated market areas (DMAs), because Nielsen complained it was copyrighted. Even after I provided a *public domain* version from the Federal Communications Commission (they call them 'television markets' for purposes of regulation), wikipedia still refused to allow it to be posted.
Don't look to wikipedia to challenge corporations. They won't do it.
Oh No, not another thing! (Score:5, Informative)
Don't look to wikipedia to challenge corporations. They won't do it.
Well, that's 2 things they're not good for now:
1. Reliable information.
2. Challenging corporations.
However, they do excel at wasting my time and deleting things. So, it does make up for it in some way, I think.
Re:Is this even a thing? (Score:4, Informative)
Wikiwho? (Score:2, Informative)
Isn't Wikipedia that website that deletes knowledge in a time where 2TB drives cost less than 100 bucks?
Super Aspergers who control nothing in real-life but shoot milk out of their male breasts when they can label something they are not interested in "not noteworthy" and delete it then?
That place is an asshole... full of assholes...
Re:5 fucking color stripes in a square. (Score:3, Informative)
No, this is Wikipedia process-wankery and why they're losing editors in droves.
It would be interesting to survey those whom leave. In comparison, most of the people I know whom left, hated the deletionist griefers. They are why I refuse to participate.
True Names (Score:5, Informative)
The key amounts to a "true name [wikipedia.org]", a label which is identical to the natural essence of that which is named. I'd never considered it anything other than an amusing literary device until now. Calling it "the HD-DVD key" is akin to "He Who Must Not Be Named". To state the true name itself - which is the only way to give an accurate reference thereto - is to reveal the great secret (of a now-defunct format - heh) and incur the wrath of the MPAA. To reference it using a peculiar sequence of colors is playing "I'm not saying it" games, akin to trying to tell someone the secret name without actually saying it. You cannot tell someone not to use that sequence of numbers, a short enough sequence that it could in fact be used by accident, without violating the [potential] copyright.
Upshot: the key amounts to a true name, and you can't assert legal right to a name and then prohibit anyone from ever using it (even in appropriate context). It wasn't copyrighted, it can't be copyrighted (heck, the copyright notice would be longer than what's copyrighted), and to ban use of the "free speech flag" is tantamount to fearing the utterance of "Voldemort" - silly. If there is in fact an issue, it need be fixed by means other than fearing a "true name".
Re:5 fucking color stripes in a square. (Score:3, Informative)
Ditto, the deletionists are why I have such mixed feelings about wikipedia. I don't see any good reason a legit article shouldn't be deleted based on some persons definition of fame.
It's the wrong key anyway! (Score:5, Informative)
It's not the key that lets you sign your own code. It's not the key that lets you decrypt the OS. It's not the key that lets you decrypt games. It doesn't let you do anything interesting. Huh? What? Yes, you heard me.
It's a useless key that is used to authenticate factory service dongles (which will only let you run signed executables anyway, and those signing keys are secure as of the latest firmware and will never be obtained). Its only purpose so far was to perform downgrades (as released in a commercial product using stolen service executables) in order to use another commercial product (by ostensibly the same company) which used an exploit to enable game piracy (using a whole bunch of other methods unrelated to it). All of this predated the 27c3 presentation and geohot's release. It's useless now and has never served any "master" key purpose. It was called the "master key used to generate service dongle keys", then of course the clueless news websites just shortened that to "master key".
The PS3 has tons of keys and you can't "do everything" with one key. You need three or four to run stuff via metldr, that's why geohot released a whole bunch of keys, not just one (none of which are the one that was used here). But if you must pick one "representative" key to obfuscate and post and distribute and make an icon out of, at least pick Da from geohot's keyset (starts with C5). That's the metldr private key, originally stored at some vault at Sony's HQ, calculated thanks to their massive signing screwup, and which can be used to sign code that all existing PS3s will execute, forever (you still need to encrypt it, but signing is ideologically more important). And for fuck's sake, please let go of the "46 DC" dongle key already. Please.
Re:5 fucking color stripes in a square. (Score:3, Informative)
Just in case anyone's wondering (Score:5, Informative)
Just in case anyone's wondering what the fuss is about.
Check the talk page (Score:4, Informative)
Re:5 fucking color stripes in a square. (Score:4, Informative)
At least they haven't removed this one yet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deletionpedia [wikipedia.org]