Microsoft Patents the Censoring of Speech

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday October 19, 2008 @02:11AM from the %$!#-!%-!%!$-##%-$@#! dept.

theodp writes "On Tuesday, the USPTO awarded Microsoft a patent for the Automatic Censorship of Audio Data for Broadcast, an invention that addresses 'producing censored speech that has been altered so that undesired words or phrases are either unintelligible or inaudible.' The patent describes methods for muting offensive words and replacing them with less offensive versions, and 'a third alternative provides for overwriting the undesired word with a masking sound, i.e., "bleeping" the undesired word with a tone.' After all, there's nothing worse than being subjected to offensive speech when you're shooting someone in the head."

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Re:Oh come on..... by ShieldW0lf · 2008-10-19 03:10 · Score: -1, Troll

IAAPL (I am a Patent Lawyer) ... as an engineer, I loved Slashdot. As a lawyer, I now know better and just come on here for laughs. It's like watching Sarah Palin discuss patent law.

Keep laughing. One day, someone like me is going to string you up in a tree by your neck.

--
-1 Uncomfortable Truth