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Philips Patents Technology to Force Ad Viewing
An anonymous reader writes "According to New Scientist, Philips has filed a patent for technology to force viewers to watch the ads in a program. Basically they plan to add extra flags to the Multimedia Home Platform that would stop controls from working until the ads are finished." From the article: "Philips' patent acknowledges that this may be 'greatly resented by viewers' who could initially think their equipment has gone wrong. So it suggests the new system could throw up a warning on screen when it is enforcing advert viewing. The patent also suggests that the system could offer viewers the chance to pay a fee interactively to go back to skipping adverts."
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Hard to resent something you will never buy.
a tv that realizes you've gotten up to get a sandwich and replays the commercials when you return.
MY GOD, THIS IS PROGRESS?!!?
the next step is to simply have metallic arms come out of your chair, pin your arms down, peel your eyeballs open, and moisturize those pupils for 3 minutes.
"when you fall in a bottomless pit you die of starvation."
You know, if you just pirate the movie you can skip the adverts.
Hmm... There should be some lesson in there about giving consumers more for their money, but as far as I can tell that just means more adverts.
The ______ Agenda
You clearly have not read the patent. There was something about chains, locks, and first born children in there.
I'm not watching porn ! *Clicks button desperately*
I don't think you get it. You're FORCED to watch the advertisements.
Part of this system will be eye-instruments similar to the ones used in A Clockwork Orange that keep the lids of your eyes fully open and staring directly into the screen. There will be no way of skipping the ads nor averting your eyes away from the ads.
Of course, for a small fee you can avoid all of this.
"Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
Pretty soon it will be cheaper and less annoying to go see movies in the theater.
I guess I'll have plenty of former TV time to perfect my Civilization IV skills. Or I could write another book.
But Civ IV first.
It seems likely that we have until the patent expires before non-Phillips products can use this technology without paying licensing fees. :-) Also means no open source implementations for about 17 years...
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
"Warning: Phillips electronics engineers are clueless asspirates. Their marketing weasels are worse. While you're watching this shit, they're busy thinking up the next stupid-ass idea."
Also known as extortion.
Two wrongs make a right is like saying "two lefts make a right"
They don't. Two lefts means you're going backwards.
So what you are saying, and let me make absolutely certain that I understand your reasoning here, you are saying that *three* wrongs make a right?
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
And I quote:
"Where I was taken to, brothers was like no cinnie I ever viddied before. I was bound up in a straightjacket and my gulliver was strapped to a headrest with like wires running away from it. Then they clamped like lodlocks on my eyes so that I could not shut them, no matter how hard I tried."
Sorry guys. This has already been done by the guys who made A Clockwork Orange, circa 1971.
"No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert
I really like the companies that set themselves apart by not showing any ads. I can't remember what they're called though. ;)