The users have revolted and effectively taken over Web 2.0 favourite and news aggregator Digg.com.
The site's chief executive has had no choice but to throw his lot in with the users after and makes this a watershed moment in the world of users generated content. It always seemed like something like this might happen, but at Digg.com, which allows users to rank news stories and blogs.It began like any other day when Digg.com saw some content on the site that needed banning. This happens to every site. In the case of Digg.com it was software code that helps online pirates make bootlegged copies of movies. The entertainment industry had threatened to sue. Clearly illegal and clearly got to go. "In order for Digg to survive, it must abide by the law," Digg Chief Executive Jay Adelson wrote on the site Tuesday afternoon, adding, "We all need to work together to protect Digg from exposure to lawsuits that could very quickly shut us down."The users, however, did not take kindly to this and revolted and scores of Digg's 1.2m registered users started deluging the site, apparently breaking all records, with the illegal code. The game really was up for Digg.com. Their efforts ensured that every one of the top 10 stories on the front page either included the software code or slammed Digg's managers.Not only that but many posted links to videos on YouTube, which had the code's 32-character string of numbers and lettersThere was no way to stop it other than close the site down or go with your users base, which was the choice Digg made. It backed down and opened the way for a huge legal battle with Hollywood, which could well spell its demise."You'd rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you," co-founder Kevin Rose blogged, acknowledging that a lawsuit could wipe out the 3-year-old San Francisco company. "If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying."This is huge and you can imagine the owners of other social content and UGC sites looking on and quaking with their boots.What else could they have done? If the users are the business, their biggest asset, it seems when something like this happens you are royally screwed. It really is mob rule.
The irony is that some sites would kill for the kind of user generation that Digg has [ed some line in here about with great amounts of UGC comes...].
Gordon Macmillan
Blogging for:
Member since: 03 Jun 2008
Last login: 20 Nov 2009
Total Posts: 1,616
