 | |
| Use | Other |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 2:3 or 3:5 |
| Adopted | May 1, 2007 |
| Design | Shades of green, pink, blue and purple stripes, with byte "C0" appended in bottom right corner |
| Designed by | John Marcotte |
The Free Speech Flag is a symbol of personal liberty used to promote freedom of speech. Designed by artist John Marcotte, the flag and its colors correspond to a cryptographic key which enabled users to copy HD DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. It was created on May 1, 2007, during the AACS encryption key controversy.
Marcotte was motivated to create the flag after the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator (AACS LA) began issuing cease and desist letters to websites publishing the key 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 (commonly referred to as 09-F9).
In response to attempts to remove the key from the Internet, netizens publicized the cryptographic key on the news aggregator website Digg.