Overview

• Digital forensic tools revealed that the 2004 anti-piracy PSA used the unlicensed XBand Rough font, a clone of the proprietary FF Confidential.
• The discovery was made by journalist Melissa Lewis and Bluesky user Rib, who analyzed archived campaign materials with FontForge and the Wayback Machine.
• Just van Rossum, creator of FF Confidential, confirmed XBand Rough is an illegal clone but expressed amusement rather than anger over its use in the campaign.
• The PSA, produced by the UK's FACT and the MPAA, ran from 2004 to 2008 and became a cultural touchstone, spawning memes like 'You wouldn't download a car.'
• Van Rossum has no plans to pursue legal action, as licensing for FF Confidential has since moved to Monotype from the original distributor, FontShop International.