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Pop Up Ads in Space
modder writes "A Russian inventor has patented
ads in space.
Shouldn't this violate some sort of
International Space Law?" Remember the first time your dad took you out at 1am into the backyard with a telescope? With Your kids the conversation will be something like "Follow the Swoosh to Arcturus, Drive a Spike to the AT&T Logo"
Wait for the first "Want your willie to be THIS BIG??" spam stretching for hundreds of kilometers across the horizon.
Jokes aside, why do people put up with intrusive advertising as a given? How much of your money spent on a 1 litre soft drink goes directly towards advertising the product back to you? I read some time ago that "big 3" North American automakers spend approximately US$1500 (averaged) on advertising for each vehicle sold.
Ultimately you foot the bill & suffer with the barrage of adverts, they reap the sales & expense write offs.
Trolling is a art,
Not that I can see, but the search feature was broken when I looked. I did browse around and find this:
Seems to refute the assertion, until other information can be found.
Even if it were some sort of violation of International Space Law, why would a patent violate that? Describing and protecting a method should not be a violation of a law, actually doing it should be a violation of the law.
Note: the views of some storm-troopers may differ from mine
Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
I think Pizza Hut has some prior art from 1999 on this one unless that Russian was behind the deal.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
From communism to advertisements in space :) Still a sad commentary on capitalism and society, when not even space is safe from advertisers.
Let's not get all worked up yet, it's just an idea some wacky russian had.
Stay tuned for new sig...
Oh I really hope they don't actually start advertising in space.
That's just HORRIBLE. 'Nuff said.
No, not any more... yet another modification to US Patent law to "help out the little guy".
Last night, I walked outside for a bit because it was such a beautiful evening (night). I looked up into the sky and just froze for about 10 minutes. The starlit night sky was just breathtaking and I couldn't help myself from just staring up and my flesh was acrawl with goosebumps. The ultimate humbling experience. For a moment, I left the confinds of my earthly hell and felt at peace amongst the bright pinpoints of light.
I get enough of the human race here on earth, let me have the sky as my own sanctuary, please keep your popup ads to yourselves.
Shouldn't this violate some sort of International Space Law?
Even if if didn't violate a law, there are some things so repugnant that they shouldn't be done.
-Colin
This would be the equivalent of projecting an advertising image on a natural landmark or such.
Imagine taking a pic of the family with Niagara Falls or (insert landmark) in the background and having a momento for the rest of your life to 'Drink Coca Cola' hovering above your heads.
It's visual pollution.
-Oy Vey
The day some asshat decides to pollute the night sky with a pop up that cant be killed is the day we find out if war can be declared on a company. Several million slashgeeks will figure out a way to shoot this would be obscenity down from earth. Our governments our bound not to destroy each others satelites, but private citizens are not. Especially when they start shooting from international waters.
While I agree with you in principle (anyone selling anti-satellite rockets, perchance?) I'd just suggest this: When the first company to take 'advantage' of this advertising strategy announces that they will do so, write them a very polite letter telling them that you will boycott every product they ever produce from now until the cold bitter end if they actually proceed. Tell them that you will then spend sizeable effort convincing friends, neighbours, your children's schoolmates, etc... to forever blacklist that company. Tell them that websites, protests, bad press and tv spots of little children looking up at the sky and saying "Why is pizza hut making it hard to use my christmas present telescope, daddy?" will be forthcoming. Granted, it'll probably take someone to actually do it, and then see massive loss in business before other companies really take notice.
If necessary, this will have to be stopped using the concept of ecological conservation. Every inch of nature's beauty does not need to be crammed with advertisements.
This is a very different device being claimed here, one that can project light down to earth, not just painting something on a rocket.
So true. Mod me Embarassed!
But now that I look at this, I wonder about its practicality. The mirror constellation will either need some very large mirrors to project sunlight over "intercontinental" distances or only work for small areas at a time. (a flat mirror in GEO would only create about a 200 mile diameter cone of visiblity on Earth)
Also, he will have a bit of a trade-off on the orbit for the system. LEO will put his satellites in Earth's shadow soon after dark (his sats will compete with dusk and then go dark). LEO is also hit-or-miss on whether the sats are flying over the target audience at exactly dusk (perhaps a resonant orbit would work). GEO provides better light and is stationary above the target audience, but the constellation will need to be much bigger (span hundreds of miles) and the mirrors much bigger to create a visible sign.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
They were inflatable mylar structures with a VERY LIMITED lifespan, say, a month tops.
If someone wants to spend a billion dollars to have a logo a quarter of the size of the moon for a few weeks thats only really visible in rural areas, let them.
Folks have been chomping at the bit for this kind of stuff for decades. Ever since those big foil sphere satellites in the 60s were visible from earth.
Pizza Hut is prepared to spend a billion to the Russians for their logo up there, the producers of the Lord of the Rings contacted folks about putting an inflatable ring in orbit to hock their movie. The Eiffel Tower corporation wanted a space sculpture to commemerate their anniversary. There was talk of putting something up to celebrate the millenium..
It's going to happen. Whether you want to call it 'art' or 'advertising'.. Best to lay the ground rules now.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
The reason no company has decided to put up ads in space is that it would deface the only untouched place man has in this world, generating bad publicity rather than revenue.
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Perhaps, some day, space will be safe from Communists.
Adverts were once banned from the internet, as well. Also (at least in the U.S.) there were never any commercials at the beginning of movies shown in a cinema, just coming attractions. There was just too much money to be made. Same applies to Space, or any other forum/medium once its use becomes more mainstream.
> The patent will expire before he's ever able to make it a reality.
At which point it will be public domain, and any corporation can do it with impunity.
What a brave new world we live in. With such people's in it.
When space itself is fair game for Spammers and the only way to see the stars is to be OFF THE F*CKING PLANET.
At least there's still day-time.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Somehow I think assassinations of corporate management would work better. Can't spend your millions of dollars in bonuses if you're dead.
There's a lucrative living to be made in business-to-business advertising. Billions of dollars are spent every year on telemarketing, direct mail, and trade shows to sell products that aren't directly consumer-advertised products.
Generic brands fit into this, too. Generic-brand companies compete for corporate agreements with supermarkets to sell their own 'no name' cereals, cookies, baking goods, etc. *Many* dollars are spent send reps to the four corners of the earth with samples, literature, anything they can do to market directly to the store in question.
Don't think for a second that advertising costs are any lower, or margins are any higher, just because it's generic. Usually the only thing different is that the production cost of the item is lower; it's just unnecessary to market a name to the consumer, because the ones buying generic are just looking for the lowest cost item that isn't completely indigestable.
Don't kid yourself; *every* consumer product is advertised/marketed in some form.
It is possible that he filed a registration patent in Russia. However a registration patent is filed essentially as a copyright would be, when you file what amounts to be an invention disclosure. This simply provide one "proof" that the purported "invention" existes as of the date filed.
If one wishes to "enforce" a registration patent, one must prove in court, during litigation, that the registration should be accorded legal rights.
It's unfortunate that news sources don't take the time to research stuff like this.
Stop undressing me with your eyes. I'm ugly naked.