It’s interesting how the digital world forces questions time and time again of what constitutes free speech. Take the following:
02 F9 1C 02 9D 75 E3 52 D7 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Suffice to say that that string of text has sparked take-down notices across the Internet. Threats of lawsuits are everywhere over this, and yet, it isn’t hate speech. It isn’t the reproduction of a copyrighted work. It’s not even really a trade secret. It is, however, an important piece of the puzzle in decrypting the new high-definition DVD discs. There’s one of these strings in every high-def player out there, but no one is supposed to be able to identify it, much less publicly disclose it.
What do you think? Should it be permissible to utter that string on the Internet? Does it have to do with context?