Separation of Church and Microsoft

theodp writes "Last week, the USPTO published a rather odd Microsoft patent application for Content Ratings and Recommendations, which describes how religious-based communities and other 'subcultures' can use the patent-pending process to prevent their members from viewing undesirable television programs and movies."

Comments

-1 Not Censorship

[Arathon]

I'm not even going to quote a definition - I've seen this fifty-odd times on Slashdot, and it's always the same old argument. But frankly, I just want to be one of the ones to come in and say "this is NOT censorship".

Re:Am I the only one ...

[be-fan]

"My belief/moral/cultural system is superior to theirs."

At what point can we say that a certain set of beliefs (not necessarily a whole system, but certain ones) are indeed superior? Stupid ideas in religious have been losing the war ever since the Enlightenment. When can we draw the line on certain things? I mean, for god's sake, even the Pope has excepted evolution, can't we call out people who teach their children otherwise for what they're really doing --- lying blatantly to their children about fundamental truths of the world?

As a parent, I wonder what kind of hot water I'd get myself into if I raised children to believe that 2 +2 = 7, or that the alphabet has 37 characters. I mean, even if it's not illegal, most people would consider such a behavior to be at least very cruel and permanently damaging.

Patent the obvious

[ak_hepcat]

Just turn it off. Heck, unplug it. Snip the cable. Flip the breaker.

Sell your TV, and read a book.