Digg and Facebook Code

People sometimes want stuff without knowing how to handle it.

I'm reading Adario Strange's take on the removal of the Facebook code from Digg and the fact that people (thanksfully) didn't go all up in arms over this. First off, I really hate the fact that people have to fish for angles in blog entries with something like this. The fact that the code was removed by Google is a clear indication that this is way different than the HD-DVD scenario. Tell you what, take 09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0 and keep in mind you can crack HD-DVD copy protection with it. Now, take the Facebook code and give it to a coder. Two different things. Just about anyone can get access to the code but it's not like anything could be done with it. Do something with the code. I dare you. But if some coders were to get hold of that Facebook source code, people could learn about the behind the scenes of Facebook. This is also very illegal since Facebook had no intention of letting this out and we have to abide. If the Digg code leaked and it wound up on Digg we wouldn't sit back and let the people do what they want, regardless of how the democratization of their news has affected their view of things. At the very least, we draw the line at anything illegal. If you can't get that then you have let the "power of the people" thing go to your head, in which case you need to go rock climing or something. Get a cat, take your attention off the internet a while.

We love the users over at Digg and I think they can understand where we are coming from. Yes, we will fight for something we believe is right. Illegal source code on the site is not something we will fight for. Just because a lot of people want something doesn't make it right. That's like saying because a lot of people read TechCrunch it's a good blog.

+fkrose