Auto-Censoring DVD Player

Gogl writes "Those clever folks at RCA have apparently designed a DVD player that automatically scans movies and censors them to make them kosher, as it were. That means none of the naughty bits and none of those bad words either. It will be sold by Walmart for the price of $79, and what with the recent Janet Jackson 'wardrobe malfunction' this product will likely be lauded by the FCC and moralists everywhere, though Hollywood is already complaining."

Comments

I want

[Anonymous Coward]

I want b00bies!

Damn those dumb people, why are they taking the b00bies away from me???

What, are these corporations my MOTHER or something now??

Re:I want

[Servo]

Uh, they aren't taking boobies away from you. It only gives that option to those who want to see the movie, but don't care for the "naughty bits".

I have to applaud RCA for providing this product. It will make everyone happy, if they would shut up and think for a minute..

1) RCA makes money on an innovative product
2) Producers make money selling more DVD's to people who would otherwise find their content objectionable.
3) Consumers get to enjoy more movies.

Uh hello, this is a win-win for everybody!

Re:I want

[R.Caley]

Except the creators of the movie, who find their work has been bowdlerised without their permission.

They must be really pissed off when I skip the boring bits then.

Not to mention all those bastards who blink during viewing!

Re:I want

[Hogwash McFly]

4) Parents can shift even more of their responsibility towards an inanimate object.

So the list of entities responsible for bringing up a child and therefore liable when he gets fat, anti social and/or psychopathic now includes:

McDonalds
The police
School teachers
DVD Players

Not exactly what I call win-win.

All little boys want to see boobies. It's the duty of a parent to talk about this with their child, explaining that it's natural to like looking at naked flesh but that it's not the answer to everything. What's not their duty is to flip a switch on a DVD player and then sue the company when, 10 years later, poor Johnny gets confused on prom night because he is greeted with big pink round things instead of black squares that he's grown up on. My entire generation loaned eachother uncensored VHS tapes because of our childish curiosity, and my god didn't we all turn out badly? We're all going round raping girls because of that smut we watched as 10 year olds and swearing like sailors in restaurants, quick somone sue Francis Ford Coppola! This whole thing smacks of finding a problem for a solution.

Also, can someone name me a film that has 'filthy nudity and swear words' that kids would even be able to understand let alone enjoy if this was censored out?

Re:I want

[ThatsLoseNotLoose]

That's a ridiculous fucking statement.

I go see a movie with my wife. She covers her eyes during the disgusting/scary parts and tells me to tell her when it's safe to look. How is that any different? By your line of reasoning, I should tell her to "try getting that tree branch out of your ass" and make her open her eyes. The only recourse she should have (according to you) is to leave the theater.

This is a machine I can CHOOSE to buy and I'm telling RCA to fast forward over content that I say I don't want to see. Are you telling me I shouldn't have that right?

Re:I want

[Lord Apathy]

Good god people, this isn't censorship. No one is pointing a gun to your head telling you to buy the thing. This is a simple techonological solution to something some people think is a problem. Censorship is when the government tells you, you can't print or say something. If you don't like the product don't buy it.

For the record, I don't intend to buy it because movies that it would be used on I don't let my kids watch. I really don't see a need for it but some people do. If RCA can makes some money off these people the more power to them. RCA gets cash for a product people want, and these people get a product they want.

Re:I want

[Anonymous Coward]

And all this player is is a way for me to do that (assuming I was one of those insane Americans who was completely freaked out by the sight of a nipple a few weeks ago).

Relatively few people were freaked out about it. The loudest voices were those of the opportunistic politicians who were looking for some political hay to make it look like they were doing something useful ...and by crying "foul", they then find ways to spend federal tax dollars to "fix" what isn't broke.

I like the idea of the censor chips because then broadcasters will be free of the censors (since that function will be rightly in the hands of the viewers) and will be free to include nudity and even sex on prime time TV without fear of government reprisal.

Damn it!

[Doomrat]

Stupid thing... it's censoring all of my cookery instruction DVDs. It's blocked out an apple and banana, both of the melons, and a saveloy.

Now...

[Knight Thrasher]

I just KNOW there's going to be a hack out for it soon, that will enable to user to reverse the process and skip to just the naughty bits and swear words. =)

Why is this a Censorship story?

[Anonymous Coward]

This is as much of a censorship story as me saying "Mozilla Thunderbird sucks as a newsreader because it lacks a good killfile".

This is a device being sold on the market. Censorship is a word used in reference to a Government office and Government behavior. There is a difference. RCA cannot force you to use its player or punish you for not meeting its standards through capture or violence.

Kosher?

[verloren]

"automatically scans movies and censors them to make them kosher"

Time to throw out my copy of Babe: Pig in the City.

Actually, it was time to do that years ago...

Artistic?

[the_mad_poster]

A Hollywood consortium, including some of Tinseltown's top directors, has sued Clearplay and others, arguing that they are abusing the films' artistic integrity.

Ah, yes. The artistic integrity of, say, the excessive violence in 48 hours? Or, perhaps, the gratiuitous nudity in American Pie.

STFU, morons. 99.9% of Hollywood's tripe is about as artistic as my ass after a binge at Taco Bell.

If people want to screen a movie they paid to see, that's their perogative. An excellent application for this is to effectively turn a "questionable for children" movie into something that you, as a parent, feel is sanitized enough to show your children.

Wake me up if some idiot starts mandating this technology in ALL players. Until then, this is just an interesting technology that people can choose to use if they want. Yawn.

What's wrong with this?

[Quixote]

Maybe I haven't had my morning coffee yet, but I don't see what's wrong with this? In fact, if anything, it is a good thing! Let the morally uptight^H^H^H^H^Hstanding get this player and censor their own movies to their hearts' content. The rest of us can then watch the movies in their entirety.

I think it's a Good Thing(tm).

The problem comes when someone else tries to impose his/her morals on ME. By censoring DVDs at source, that is what happens. This player, OTOH, brings censoring to the destination. Great idea.

Where'd my movie go?

[RobinH]

I put a copy of Pulp Fiction into this thing, and all I got out were 13 seconds of credits! Where did my movie go???

How is this censorship?

[mtrupe]

Parents and owners of these things are simply decided what they do and do not want their familty to see. Are you saying that I must allow my young children to watch nudity, violence, and bad language or else I am some kind of fundamentalist?

These are tools for parents, nothing more, nothing less. Last I knew parents were allowed to raise their own children. Yeah- censorship is bad, for grown adults, but I plan on censoring the heck out of what I allow my children to see. There is no freedom of speech or freedom to view anything for a 9 year old.

Another way to look at this is as a tool of free speech. It allows parents to further control what their children see whild not forcing entire censorship. I would like to continue to watch movies as my daughter gets old enough to understand what she is seeing on the screen. Most of the time sex scenes and foul language does little to add to the story (I know there are exceptions, like Boogie Nights, for example).

Anyway, just my two cents-- there is no reason to freak out here. RCA and Walmart aren't trying to censor what you are allowed to see, rather, they are providing parents with a tool that will help us to raise our children as we see fit.

Re:Heuristic?

[mtrupe]

What if parents still want to watch movies, but include the family? This could be a wonderful tool for parents.

I don't understand what is wrong with this. If you don't like it, don't buy it- its as simple as that.

what the (pretty butterflies) is this?

[circletimessquare]

this is the stupidest (happy mountains) i have ever heard of in my whole (dancing kittens) life

what (singing birds) thought this (rolling hills) up?

if you don't like the (grazing deer) movie, don't watch the (blooming flowers) movie!

cutting it up into sanitized (falling rain) pieces is akin to giving yourself a (bubbling brooks) frontal lobotomy

i just don't understand the (belching volcanoes) censorial instincts of some pinheaded (churning lava)

Isn't this the best answer?

[Libertarian_Geek]

Just give the enduser the ability to censor, and leave the original signal/movie untouched. Example: When the little tikes are in the room, switch to G rated, when they leave, switch to whatever rating you want. Heck, maybe with this tech, you could have a setting to make it all "Naughty-Bits". I don't see it as censorship if it's selectable by the end-user then it's selective viewing. The problem comes in when/if you are mandated to keep the settings at a certain level, or required to have it self-censor. Beyond that, this could help eliminate censorship at the original broadcast.

Re:To those of you who support this

[gauauu]

You'd like to know the thought processes of those that support this?

OK. It's called the right to choose. That's not so difficult.

You want to watch the full movie, boobies and all.

For some odd reason, which (although completely illogical to you) shouldn't matter if you truly believe in freedom (it's not freedom if everyone else has to approve of your motivations), my neighbor's grandma would like to see that movie, sans boobies.

With this product, she can do that. Without infringing on YOUR freedom to see boobies.

Doesn't this sound like a much nicer solution than grandma (Whether she has a good reason or not) pushing for stupid laws (like every DVD that contains naked boobies being on shelves at least 5 feet high, etc,etc)?

I'd like to know why folks like you get so scared of an object that solves a problem in a way that doesn't reduce anyone's freedom, but is geared towards people with a self-imposed religious or moral code.

Just because some of those people are over-the-top and obnoxious, doesn't mean you should be against any product that helps the rest of them get what they want without harming you.

Re:As an American...

[argStyopa]

As a visitor to Europe, I am flabbergasted by how crass the TV output is. Apparantly it's okay to show graphic sex acts but guns and violence are out. Even the crazy channels like RTL put out sex-packed junk like Wa(h)re Liebe.

What kind of fucked up system is that?

Prom night

[vwjeff]

10 years later, poor Johnny gets confused on prom night because he is greeted with big pink round things instead of black squares that he's grown up on.

If Johnny is the average /. reader he will never have to worry about prom night.

This will work until...

[CreatureComfort]

I expect this to fly off the shelves into every god-fearing Xtian home in the U.S. until...

Mel releases 'The Passion' on DVD and this player will only show the opening and closing credits.