First Illegal Executable Prime

Generated by Phil Carmody in March 2001 this 1811 digit prime number is a binary representation of a non-compressed executable program that produces the famous DeCSS decryption algorithm which can be used to circumvent a DVD's copy prevention. Released in October 1999 by three coders, one of them would later become famous for the code, and would become known around the world as DVD Jon.

In accordance with the DMCA, anything which circumvents encryption is Illegal, therefore so is the DeCSS code. By this reasoning the prime number, which can be ungziped into the full C source for DeCSS must also be Illegal, making it the first Illegal number ever. Since being a prime number is an natural, intrinsic property of numbers, it would be impossible to truly outlaw, or own, a number (if this turns out to not be true I'm going to copyright the number "1" right away, just think of all the royalties on hard drives everywhere!)

Phil Carmody, in another stroke of brilliance, decided to make a prime number that was a binary representation of an executable program that would produce the DeCSS code. This amazing feat has produced a prime number that you can literally type in and run on any Linux x86 computer. I won't go into much more detail here, but I encourage you to read about how Phil accomplished this amazing feat which smacks in the face anyone who thinks bits can be owned and controlled.

So here, presented for you is the first official illegal executable number, a shirt you can run, and if you ever need to decrypt a DVD, just type it in and run it! There is no way to be better prepared to decrypt a movie than to keep the code on your chest. Remember, numbers are a property of the universe and cannot be legal, or illegal, they just are, wear it.