Attempts to stifle publication of information about a software key that disables Digital Rights Management (DRM) in High Definition DVDs ended in farce yesterday when the details hit Digg.

Heeding a 'cease and desist' letter from the Advanced Access Content Systems (AACS) -- the consortium behind DRM on HD-DVD discs -- Digg management initially removed postings giving details of the encryption-breaking key. But as quickly as one post was taken down, a handful more sprung up to replace it.

Digg is unique among websites in that its content is posted, controlled and prioritised by its users. The more Digg management deleted, the more the posters posted.

The BBC reports that at one point the site collapsed under the weight of thousands of submissions.

In the end Digg gave up. "After seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you've made it clear. You'd rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won't delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be," said founder Kevin Rose.