Microsoft Patent Monetizes Your TV Remote

theodp writes "Microsoft, reports GeekWire, is seeking a patent on monetizing the buttons of your TV remote. In its application for a patent on 'Control-based Content Pricing,' Microsoft explains how one can jack up the cable bill of those who dare fast-forward past a diaper commercial or replay a sports highlight. From the patent application: 'If a user initiates a navigation control input to advance past (e.g., skip over) an advertisement, the cost of a requested on-demand movie may be increased. Similarly, if a user initiates a replay of a sporting event, the user may be charged for the replay control input and for each subsequent view control input.'"

Comments

too late

[alphatel]

I skipped this article.

Re:too late

[Anonymous Coward]

Same here, what I'd like to know is if they will use their other patented / patent application stuff to really ream it down your throat.

Eye tracking with a camera, monitor your "blood pressure, heart rate, etc." Maybe use it to show commercials for statins. I don't know.

I did my part to help Microsoft go under. I've boycotted their products since 2005, and haven't bought a single thing from them. I keep a copy of XP SP2 in a vm just in case, but it never gets used, and will be obsolete soon anyway...

Fortunately, I don't have a TV at the moment, and no remote, I wonder what this tech will do to the battery life. More waste surely.

Re:too late

[click2005]

I guess the Kinnect could be used to see if you are watching the advert.

Re:too late

[SexyHamster]

At the end of a commercial break there will be a series of questions to see if you were paying attention.

Re:too late

[Maow]

I skipped this article.

And now you owe Slashdot double your subscription rate, filthy pirate.

On a more serious note, if someone is already paying for TV, who the fuck thinks they should pay again?

Oh, right, content providers. And, of course, Microsoft (can I say Micro$oft this time, seems appropriate).

I guess I can't complain, being a Linux user with no cable TV (nor any torrents, Hulu, Netflix, etc.) In fact, I can almost chuckle at it and hope it drives more customers away. One can hope...

Re:too late

[techishly]

You owe Microsoft a nickel now.

Re:too late

[__aasdno7518]

No tv here either..We just have a couple to watch DVD's and streaming video. This does not surprise me..They want to nickel and dime us to death..A company can have billions of dollars,but it is never enough..They are never satisfied. I stopped using Microsoft's OS years ago when I discovered Linux...Never looked back.. This reminds me so much of the Beatle's song Tax man.

Re:too late

[houstonbofh]

Well, it will drive more to piracy. And they will think it is just cost...

Re:too late

[iplayfast]

I agree, pay for cable, watch commercials, we are double paying for everything, and all for re-runs and rehashes of old shows. I think it's time to quit TV and go totally internet.

Re:too late

[tqk]

At the end of a commercial break there will be a series of questions to see if you were paying attention.

I can think of *so* many ways to leverage this kind of thinking:

i) shoes that detect when they're being put on, automatically debiting your chequing acct. for each use, and for each step taken in them.

ii) Shirts that detect when they're being buttoned up. Ditto for zippers. Add modifiers for when used long sleeved, or rolled up.

iii) sunglasses that charge per solar day.

iv) clothing that detects seasons and charges by the year.

v) & etc.

I'm glad I'm not going to live long enough to see that world. The rest of you are welcome to it.

Re:too late

[hairyfeet]

Meh the future is gonna be embedded ads that you simply can't escape. You'll see the characters drinking Coke while using their iPhone and driving their Ford Explorer to the Taco Bell. As for cable doing this if the other cablecos are like mine they pretty much have you over a barrel anyway so its not like there is anything you can do about it. Between the major networks having their shows in Windows 7 Media Center (which I'm sure MSFT paid a pretty penny for) and Hulu I haven't even bothered to hook my basic cable up to my PC yet i'm still paying for the damned thing because they have it priced in their contracts so you get screwed if you don't take the crap.

So in the end it doesn't matter if they stick in more commercials (remember when the whole selling point of cable was commercial free TV?) or jack the price or whatever, because you'll take it simply because you got no choice. in my area its 12Mbps cable with bundling bullshit or 2Mbps DSL run by the evil empire known as AT&T, aka "STFU about the lousy quality bitch or we'll leave you on hold for another 4 hours" so it isn't like there is a damned thing I can do about any wallet raping anyway. man what I wouldn't give for real competition and just a big fat dumb pipe. While EU and Asia are getting these sweet huge pipes we are getting the short bus to the information superhighway. Pretty much MSFT has nailed what is the only "innovation" we have here in the USA anymore, all the new and exciting ways the megacorps can steal your wallets.

Re:too late

[currently_awake]

Will we get a price break for this? From the example of cable tv I'd say no.

Re:too late

[russotto]

Meh the future is gonna be embedded ads that you simply can't escape. You'll see the characters drinking Coke while using their iPhone and driving their Ford Explorer to the Taco Bell.

I have no real problem with that. I'd rather watch a show where everyone's using the products of a particular brand, and not be interrupted for an ad, than watch a show which is constantly being interrupted for ads but has only generic products used. Unfortunately, the most likely outcome (and the status quo) is we get both.

As for this patent... it really shouldn't be patentable. But in this case I don't mind, because anything that makes it harder for those other than the patentholder to be assholes is OK by me.

Re:too late

[Ihmhi]

The more they nickel and dime us, the more people will be driven to much more convenient methods of distribution - i.e. piracy.

I am finding less and less companies that I am willing to give my money.

Re:too late

[Anonymous Coward]

& etc.

"etc." means "et cetera". Using "&" before it means you don't know its meaning. Stop using it.

Re:too late

[TheNastyInThePasty]

You've never watched Chuck then.

"Oh hey, while we come up with a plan for what to do, let's go to Subway and get the new cheesy melty Philly Sub."
"Oh man, that sounds delicious."
"YEAH I KNOW and It's only $5!"
"Wow, that's such a great idea!"
Switch to a scene of them at subway unwrapping their sub.
"Oh, it's so good. What did you get?"
"I got the $5 club. It's got..."
"That's great, so what's the plan?"

Not even exaggerating. They had an episode too where one of the characters escaped a kidnapping just because he heard his co-workers were going to Subway without him.

Re:too late

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

Because "they" aren't working together. The cableco doesn't give a shit about what you're watching and the content providers don't give a shit where their feed is hitting your eyes.

Re:too late

[Opportunist]

I want something like that for my ass, to count the kisses they'd have to give it for every idea like that.

Why the fuck does anyone think anyone will put up with that crap? After I bought something, it's mine, and whatever remote control you put in goes out the nanosecond I find out it's there.

When you want me to buy your crap, you better give me what I want. I don't give half a turd what you, the seller, want in your product.

Re:too late

[Opportunist]

No problem. I'll put a nickel in an envelope and send it COD.

Re:too late

[davester666]

No. It's just LOTS more profit for the content providers. Even the example is obnoxious. The consumer is paying for an on-demand movie and then has to pay extra to not watch the ads.

I could understand this for 'regular' TV, where the ads were supposed to pay for the show's production, but this is more like "well, since your wallet is already out, it's an extra $1 to not be annoyed".

Re:too late

[DinDaddy]

Future? Have you watched TV lately? This is very pervasive already.

Re:too late

[kent_eh]

I managed to make my cable bill go down recently.
They did an across the board price increase, so I called and dropped a few packages so that I'm now paying less.
And after a few months, I find that I'm not missing the channels that I dropped.

The next price hike, I'll likely do the same thing.
I may not even wait that long. As the content to advertising ratio keeps getting worse, it makes me want to spend even less time in front of the tube.

Re:too late

[SuperTechnoNerd]

Don't forget toilets that charge more for larger turds.

Re:too late

[SuperTechnoNerd]

"I think it's time to quit TV and go totally internet"
But the powers that be are trying to turn the internet into TV. So where does that leave us?

Re:too late

[hairyfeet]

Dude watch this movie review to get a taste of the future. yes its a bad movie but that's not the point, the point is its pretty much a 2 and a half hour commercial with a plot loosely woven around it. the main character uses a VIAO laptop and desktop while talking on his Sony phone and carries his Sony MP3 player while going on a Royal Caribbean Cruise (complete with long pan shot to show off the boat) while drinking his Pepto Bismal while talking about the Dunkin Donuts account. We're not just talking product placement here friend, we are talking about full blown commercials woven into the movie so you are bombarded with what is obviously product shilling.

Re:too late

[Xeranar]

(remember when the whole selling point of cable was commercial free TV?)

Technically cable TV was designed to provide TV service to those people who couldn't normally get it over the air. Later on "premium" channels like HBO showed up and were to be commercial free form of TV but for the most part since cable's inception there hasn't been a huge perception it should be commercial free, especially since most of the original content was developed for the free networks so they were all 23 minutes out of 30 long. 7 minute vignettes only go so far.

If anything I see this as a quaint patent that will never seriously see the light of day because people are flexible but an obvious nickel and dime move like this would drive people away. I'm already debating once the next generation of consoles comes out to simple torrent shows I want to watch, get an ESPN subscription for sports, and enjoy my big screen TV with Netflix & the handful of services I would use besides that.

Re:too late

[mcneely.mike]

I can think of *so* many ways to leverage this kind of thinking:

i) shoes that detect when they're being put on, automatically debiting your chequing acct. for each use, and for each step taken in them.

ii) Shirts that detect when they're being buttoned up. Ditto for zippers. Add modifiers for when used long sleeved, or rolled up.

iii) sunglasses that charge per solar day.

iv) clothing that detects seasons and charges by the year.

v) & etc.

I'm glad I'm not going to live long enough to see that world. The rest of you are welcome to it.

Charge even more for shirts coming off... ditto for bras, ditto for underpants. Microsoft could kill sex with one patent! (Guess that's because they are micro and soft?) :-)

Re:too late

[Anonymous Coward]

They tried to do that with 'smart' parking meters. If Fred plugs the meter for 1 hour but only stays 20 minutes, he drives away. With a 'dumb' parking meter, if Barney comes along, he can park without plugging the meter for 40 minutes. The new meters automatically zero the meter when Fred leaves (like an automatic flush toilet). The only problem is people sometimes drive around the block, having forgot to buy something. When they see the meter zeroed, they either 1) hang an 'out of order' sign on the meter, or 2) Attempt their own repairs to the meter, possibly really rendering it out of order. People have tried to complain: if I drive away, and the meter is so smart, I should get the unused money back. Municipalities want to get greedy and usually try to argue otherwise, and people then claim the meter usually with chain and truck. Thermite works too.

Re:too late

[sixtyeight]

Then I for one am glad they don't build Pacemakers.

Re:too late

[nukenerd]

Christ Almighty, you can still love Microsoft after they come up with a idea like this?

Microsoft set back personal computing by, I would say. at least five years with their hanging on to Windows-for-DOS (ie the Win95/98/ME series) long after even entry level PCs were capable of running a half-decent OS in the form of WinNT (lets not even mention Unix/Xenix/Linux). Back in 1995 they could have produced a lightweight version of NT for popular use instead of the Win95 crap that they pushed for another 5 years.

The reason they did not was departmental in-fighting at Microsoft.

While MS employ some of the best graphic designers in the business, they have done almost f#@k all in the way of innovation.

Re:too late

[BurningFeetMan]

They've already got you. You're clearly unhappy with the service, yet continue to subscribe...

Listen to your subconscious and give up the cable!

Re:too late

[Guru2Newbie]

We dropped cable years ago, in favor of a Roku settop box. One-time $80US purchase, and Netflix (which we already subscribed to) and Hulu+ (a few dollars a month). Adds up to maybe $15 more a month than Netflix DVDs-in-the-mail only. Without cable. Granted we are already paying $2/day for a 20Mbps Internet connection, but that's mostly paid for by a home business.

Re:too late

[russotto]

Chuck did the super-obvious product placements on purpose; it was part of the humor (as well as actually being a product placement). Usually it worked, sometimes it didn't.

Re:too late

[crgrace]

I can think of *so* many ways to leverage this kind of thinking:

i) shoes that detect when they're being put on, automatically debiting your chequing acct. for each use, and for each step taken in them.

ii) Shirts that detect when they're being buttoned up. Ditto for zippers. Add modifiers for when used long sleeved, or rolled up.

iii) sunglasses that charge per solar day.

iv) clothing that detects seasons and charges by the year.

v) & etc.

Better get to work... you've got a lot of patent applications to write up!

Re:too late

[macs4all]

Will we get a price break for this? From the example of cable tv I'd say no.

Just like you don't get "not-charged" for the 90% of the cable TV channels that show nothing but "infomercials" after 2AM. I have 146 channels on Brighthouse, and often there have been less than 10 channels that are showing ANYTHING but "Paid Program", night after night.

So, why can't we get a rebate for this ridiculous behavior?

Back on-topic: This latest reviling example is proof-positive that Microsoft has nothing but contempt for individuals, and is nothing more than the government and "big business' " bitch. Not that that is a big surprise around here, but it needs to be said again and again, until everyone gets it.

We can only hope that Windows 8 severely teaches them a valuable lesson that they can't just shove any old thing down everyone's throat. Boy do they need a lesson in corporate humility...

Re:too late

[hairyfeet]

Then you must be a baby then because in the 70s when it first came out that was the selling point, they even had ads for cable that would show how many hours of commercials you'd get in an average day while the cable user got to watch all these shows with NO ads. Then came the superstations with a few ads, then the niche channels like Ha! that had even MORE ads, then they all started putting logos on the scene and that was replaced by commercials running across the bottom and now its just adtastic.

Re:too late

[Zorque]

There have been some incredibly obvious ones on the various shows on USA, Burn Notice and White Collar have each had a few moments where the characters have had a convenient use for things like their car's GPS's voice recognition or the OnStar service (it seems like they're always pushing cars on us). It's kind of disgusting how blatant it is to use a product's features as a plot point instead of just showing the character drinking a refreshing Pepsi or something. Sadly I don't think these ones have been tongue-in-cheek.

Re:too late

[Deep Esophagus]

Meh the future is gonna be embedded ads that you simply can't escape.

Son, that's not the future; that's older than dirt. From the earliest days of radio on, in the middle of a show a character would drop in for a visit because "I just had to tell you about this amazing new dish soap from Palmolive" or whatever.

And who can forget this Flintstones plug for cigarettes?

Re:too late

[tqk]

This latest reviling example is proof-positive that Microsoft has nothing but contempt for individuals, and is nothing more than the government and "big business' " bitch.

On soapbox: This has nothing to do with MS, other than they're following "the crowd."

This's accountants. Give 'em computers, a fast network, a database, and some code to make it all interact robotically, and accountants will believe that a micro-payment economy makes sense. "Look at all the transactions!!!11" Cf. Wall St.

When I was learning this stuff, one of the maxims was, "There are things that computers can do, but shouldn't." Accountants haven't learned that lesson, and may never will.

Off soapbox. As an aside, have I told you people about the accountant I watched with one finger on an Excel column and another hand on a desktop calculator, summing the column? Dumbth/Faceplant.

Re:too late

[user32.ExitWindowsEx]

Actually I think Apple already applied for that patent.

Re:too late

[tqk]

Why the fuck does anyone think anyone will put up with that crap?

Have you watched a TV lately? I find myself *constantly* astonished with life these days. CONSTANTLY!
"Holy !@#$, look at that, and that, and that, ..."

Damn. The only solace I find these days is in hardcopy books. The people I see around me from day to day are all certifiably insane (or that's what we would have called them last century).

Re:too late

[tqk]

Microsoft could kill sex with one patent!

"Honey?!?"

"Sorry dear, we can't afford any more this month."

"But, but, ..."

Re:too late

[tqk]

"I'm glad I'm not going to live long enough to see that world. The rest of you are welcome to it."

Once they have figured out how to charge artists for composing, it's just a matter of time before they figure out a way to charge you for decomposing.

I like the way you think. You're welcome to use either of my shoulders to lean or cry on for the next five minutes. Clock's ticking.

Gahd.

Re:too late

[Whiteox]

Yes, but in a few short years, that digital broadcasting box you will get via the cable guy will come with a remote with enough DRM in it to make this a reality. Either you subscribe or you don't. I think many will reject the package.

Re:too late

[donaldm]

That is why I normally record a show and then when I do watch it I can skip the adds. Fortunately I don't watch much TV since I now find most shows on "Foxtel" are repeats and those new shows are basically a rehash of old shows. Start charging for skipping adds and I will stop my subscription.

I do remember when Foxtel came out and it was great that there were no commercials which was a massive improvement over Free to Air TV. Today while Foxtex has more channels and IMHO less choice there is little diference in the length of commercials for a given show on either Free to Air or Cable. I now spend most of my free time which a few years back would be spent watching TV either playing computer/console games or just surfing the web.

Even though many web pages have commercials I find it very easy to ingnore them and just read or view what I want. I wonder when someone comes up with a patent that determins if you the viewer of a web page has actually looked at the commercial and have some means of charging by micro payment for skipping the add. BTW this could be done if you allow monitoring of your web cam if you are stupid enough to have it activated while surfing the Web.

Re:too late

[iplayfast]

Plus 5 insightful

Re:too late

[tqk]

ii) Shirts that detect when they're being buttoned up. Ditto for zippers.

Don't forget the costs of vendor lock-in. ...if the zipper should be unzipped by someone other than yourself the BSA might inform your significant other with threats of extortionate fees.

Jeebus, that's the last thing I wanted to hear today. The BSA following me around all day long, watching my every move, debiting my bank acct. on my every action, ...

I think I need to run away now.

Re:too late

[hairyfeet]

This is why as soon as his new laptop gets here (found him a sweet AMD quad for $430) I'm gonna be setting up Win 7 WMC for my dad. Hell other than the country channel (Rural TV or whatever its called) he doesn't watch anything that can't be had on the net or is built into WMC like NCIS and CSI and frankly the net version not only has a better picture over the sat but less ads as well. the nice thing is I can slap him a cheap USB cap card if he wants in it and when he is home it'll work like a DVR and record his favorite shows and just let him skip commercials. i tried setting up the DVR for him that came with the sat but ever since the TiVo case they have fucked the UI up so bad an old guy like my dad simply can't get the hang of it whereas Win 7 WMC is as simple as "Right click>>record series" and it'll record ONLY those episodes of NCIS and CSI that he hasn't already recorded.

i'm gonna have to look into whether Hulu Plus gets those new shows like NCIS because if it does i bet we can just cancel his sat because there really isn't anything he watches on it anymore other than those shows. once i got him a media tank (Nbox HD for the living room, highly recommend them) and loaded all his action movies onto it frankly the sat just sits there sucking money and between the constant commercials and how quickly they start showing reruns he is getting seriously sick of it.

well fuck you!

[Anonymous Coward]

and you realy expect people dont find ways to steal media content from the web?

Re:well fuck you!

[Anonymous Coward]

Lucky for me, my DVR controls are linked to MythTV

Re:well fuck you!

[houstonbofh]

Yep. Content producers. I mean if you bought the DVD, why are they entitled to make you watch the adds EVERY TIME? And so on... If there was a way to legally buy the pirate rip MKVs I would actually pay more for them. They are just better product.

Re:well fuck you!

[AngryDeuce]

Well, they're certainly not doing anything to discourage it when they roll out stupid bullshit like this...

You know an industry is fucked up to the core when customers are treated like adversaries right off the bat. I won't shop in a store where I'm made to feel like a thief the moment I walk in the door, and that's precisely what all this crap does. As a corollary to that, I'm extremely short on sympathy for those that do treat their customers that way and end up with large portions of the population comfortable with ripping them off.

A survey a few months ago found that 70% of people in the U.S. think it's reasonable to share music with family and friends. Now, the RIAA will stamp their feet and gnash their teeth at that, but the fact of the matter is, the majority of the people of this country do not see a problem with it. They can choose to ignore this and throw billions of dollars at court costs and all the other bullshit related to music piracy, or they can start more closely examining why it is that so many people out there don't have any moral compunction trading music back and forth in the first place. I suppose one could say "Well, that just proves that most people are thieves...." but still, when that many people openly do something that is technically illegal, maybe it's time to start examining those laws. If laws are passed that make the vast majority of the population "criminals", then there's obviously something wrong with the laws.

Re:well fuck you!

[runeghost]

As a group, the public does not and will not make fine distinctions about copyright. To the 'man on the street' either copyright is a good thing or it's a bad thing. I think the main effect MAFIAA's war against piracy is to convince an ever larger segment of the public that copyright is a tool used by greedy corporations, and thus bad. The net result of stuff like 'control-based content pricing' is going to be that the idea of Intellectual Property is going to be reduced to a joke for generations. YMMV on whether that's a good thing or not, but that is where America is headed.

Re:well fuck you!

[Opportunist]

When I pay for pay-per-view, then yes, I feel kinda entitled to watch the damn movie without them meddling with it. When I buy a DVD, I feel kinda entitled to watch the damn thing without first having to clean the kitchen to avoid the unskipable ads.

Get the idea?

When you sell me a product, I feel damn well entitled to use it!

Re:well fuck you!

[the_macman]

Welcome to the free market: Supply & demand.

There is a demand, thus a supply appears. Let's weigh the choices of pirating. Free high quality commercial free content I can watch instantly as many times as I want. No DRM. Any digital content ever produced can be obtained

OR

a cable service I pay too much for, with pre-set schedules, commercials louder than the program (which I'm now paying to watch) that I can't fast forward, pause, or rewind (unless I pay for it) and the content is locked into my cable box so I can't put it on my phone, ipod, ipad, or laptop.

Honestly, from a consumer business standpoint, it's a no fucking brainer.

Re:well fuck you!

[DinDaddy]

Indeed. The well publicized examples where we see individuals as opposed to corps benefitting from copyright are few, and tend to be for people like Rowling, who engender little sympathy due to their wealth.

If more individual small scale copyright holders were on display, the public might care more.

Re:well fuck you!

[jedidiah]

...which brings up an interesting question of how something like this could be considered novel enough to be patent worth when any Myth user could replciate this Microsoft atrocity with some shell scripting.

let's be consistent

[tverbeek]

Does the patent cover giving the customer a refund if she pushes the "off" button?

Re:let's be consistent

[Anonymous Coward]

No, no, no, the service is to supply you with the opportunity to watch these shows as streamed. Fast forwarding... woah. That is skipping ahead, dear boy/girl/thing. That is using excess media enjoyment entertainment. Why, user, you are stealing when you fast forward. You should be glad we aren't suing you for theft instead of offering you an instant settlement.

In fact, by turning off your television you are wasting entertainment that could have gone elsewhere. Refund, dear boy/girl/thing? You should be glad we aren't charging you for not constantly leaving your television on so you can hear commercials in the background.

Re:let's be consistent

[MacTO]

You don't get it. Pushing the off button is equivalent to skipping all of the advertising, so you will have to pay even more.

Re:let's be consistent

[__aasdno7518]

You should be glad we aren't charging you for not constantly leaving your television on so you can hear commercials in the background.

Shhh..Don't give um any ideas!!!!!

Re:let's be consistent

[Psicopatico]

I was going to grab the remote to raise the volume a bit to better enjoy the experience of those marvelous advertisings, but I stumbled on the power cord and ripped it off the wall socket, damn it...

Re:let's be consistent

[penix1]

What if I break it? Do I still pay?

Yes...

What if I give the TV to someone? Do I still pay? Do they?

Both of you pay....

Do they have to know they have it to get charged?

Nope...

It's the American way after all.

Re:let's be consistent

[Opportunist]

Or do I get paid if I fast forward through the movie to get to the ads because they have better script, acting and are overall more entertaining?

Re:let's be consistent

[Opportunist]

Hmm... considering how useless the average commenters are today, I wouldn't notice much of a difference.

Re:let's be consistent

[Asic Eng]

How such a system could look like has been presented in Charlie Brookers "Black Mirror - 15 Million Credits". I think that ought to count as prior art. I'm still in favor of the patent though - having ideas like that patented at least makes them more expensive to implement.

Re:let's be consistent

[Asic Eng]

Sorry, correct title is "15 Million Merits" - here is a clip which demonstrates how the system would work. (To give some context - he doesn't want to watch how the girl he loves works as a porn star, but he doesn't have sufficient funds to skip the show...)

Re:let's be consistent

[__aaltlg1547]

Why not just pass a law? 1984 was years ago. It's way past time to make it a crime to turn off the TV.

Fortunately I don't habe a TV remote

[gweihir]

In fact, I do not have a TV and dropped that waste of time about 8 years ago. Never missed it since then.

With the amount of stupidity that idiot box pours out these days, that sheer amorality of this patent does not surprise me. The source does not either.

Re:Fortunately I don't habe a TV remote

[equex]

I have a TV remote stashed somewhere. Forgot to throw it out with the TV. Cheers!

Re:Fortunately I don't habe a TV remote

[Anonymous Coward]

Obligatory Onion
http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-tel,429/

Re:Fortunately I don't habe a TV remote

[gweihir]

I wonder whether the patent applies to _that_ situation? Probably does with the over-broad patents granted today.

Re:Fortunately I don't habe a TV remote

[Salgak1]

And now that you openly admit it, expect a bill from HBO, for your failure to view their programming. . . After all, a TV is mandatory, as is watching commercials. Resistance is Futile: You will be Monetized. . .

Re:Fortunately I don't habe a TV remote

[gweihir]

I dropped TV completely. I was using a TV card in my PC before, so the foot is still intact ;-)

I do download some series to watch on my PC, but that is it.

Re:Fortunately I don't habe a TV remote

[gweihir]

I already pay for Radio having an Internet-capable PC. (The amount of stupidity I encountered when I asked them what they meant by "Media Player" and that I was unable to find a "play radio" function in Linux was incredible.) They wanted to introduce that for TV as well here, but that would have caused a major upheaval and probably abolishment of the institution that collects these fees (and wastes about half of them).

Re:Fortunately I don't habe a TV remote

[jyx]

Obligatory Onion
http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-tel,429/

Very true, but there is something very liberating about not living your life around the tv schedule any more - and who doesn't want to share the secrets of happiness with their friends. (I guess this is how the fervently religious feel all the time.)

See also

[Anonymous Coward]

Now where have I heard this idea before... Ah, right!
Though to be fair, the patent seems to have come first (Filing date: Mar 19, 2004, Issue date: Nov 22, 2011, WTF.) Great minds think alike?

I will always make sure...

[Anonymous Coward]

...that my TV is receive-only. No pay-TV, no on-demand, just unencrypted broadcasts. If you can't deliver that, I will just stop watching. Your move.

Re:I will always make sure...

[FudRucker]

dont worry, the CIA is working on a way to spy on you thought your TV

Re:I will always make sure...

[bmo]

Some of us never bothered to get an ATSC tuner since the switch to digital TV in 2009.

What's the point?

--
BMO

Re:I will always make sure...

[bmo]

The amount of pushback on stuff like this has nothing whatsoever with tinfoil and everything with some businesses attempting to foist needless complexity upon the consumer with no benefit to the consumer whatsoever.

All in the name of monetization.

Gawd, the spellcheck did not flag that bit of stupid business jargon as a "not-word."

jeg opgiv

--
BMO - monetize the eschaton.

Re:I will always make sure...

[Opportunist]

That might work as long as the TV is the only system connected with a variable power uptake, but given the amount of electronics, from TV to PC to game consoles, to stereos... that have very variable power consumption, I guess trying to determine the TV program from the power consumption will be kinda hard.

Re:I will always make sure...

[sixtyeight]

You do not comprise the large, apathetic marketing demographic they're catering to. They don't care, but will continue squeezing everybody else to compensate for the losses and then some. And we still won't have functional media infrastructure to boot.

Re:I will always make sure...

[sixtyeight]

This is one of the rare times I'm going to say, "That strains credulity even for me."

Technically feasible? No question. But what possible spying value could be had from determining which channel of drek out of hundreds that a household is watching? Cable TV is essentially one huge Dr. Seuss pipe of mental pollution subdivided into smaller pipes. The consumer at home turns the spigot on for one of the smaller pipes, and pretends he has been given a choice and lives in freedom.

Re:I will always make sure...

[Tooke]

soviet russia, etc etc

Funny

[Anonymous Coward]

Dont they realize that some would choose to be without the tv all together rather than having to pay more and more for less.
Well maybe it's just me who have ditched the cable tv and just have an antenna. The shows I want to see aren't aired in my country anyway.
After a month or two it is really not hard to live without. I don't even miss it anymore just wonder why it was that I was willing to pay so much money for it.

Re:Funny

[Opportunist]

No! It cannot be! If they refuse to buy our crap, it can only mean that they're stealing it!

Don't tell me you never heard that derailed train of logic before...

Re:Funny

[sixtyeight]

Dont they realize that some would choose to be without the tv all together rather than having to pay more and more for less.

Yeah, they're pretty obtuse. See how their profit model writhes and melts away like the Wicked Witch just because you choose to do without?

The masses need to wise up, too. Otherwise they just keep getting milked, and subsidizing the problem. It's the same with paying taxes, by the way. April 15th is coming up. Don't you think we should tip the government a little extra this year for all their great service to us?

Maybe MS will help us out here

[DynamoJoe]

If they get the patent they can charge so much for the license that none of the media companies will buy it.

Re:Maybe MS will help us out here

[Maow]

If they get the patent they can charge so much for the license that none of the media companies will buy it.

I think the favour they're doing us is thus: making it so onerous to watch TV that people simply turn it off, cancel their cable, and suddenly realize that they don't even miss it.

Mediaroom

[rogueippacket]

Considering a number of large television providers use Microsoft Mediaroom (which requires Microsoft certified set-top boxes, most of which are PVR capable) today, there is already a large platform this patent could be deployed to. But I guess it's a sign of the times - upfront subscriptions are slowly disappearing, with pay-per-use content (such as Video on Demand) and Micro-transactions taking over. Who knows, maybe we will see an overall reduction in subscription costs with patents like this, but probably not any time soon. I don't know if the average broadcast television subscriber is ready to be nickel-and-dimed for skipping a commercial yet.

Re:Mediaroom

[cowboy76Spain]

Not that easy.

I guess that what they really want is to make you pay according to the usefulness to you.

Theoretically, you will pay for a good as long as its price gives you more usefulness than the same money spent in any other good (say books / internet / going out). Of course, the tricky point is determining that point.

Right now, consumers who only have a small interest in TV just don't get suscribed. In the other hand, users which could not live without their favorite series pay the same that people who are just barely interested.

With a pure no suscription/pay per use model, everybody would be "suscribed" and they would get the cents from the people who watch little TV and the big bucks of people who is constantly watching it.

And yes, all of this is for increasing revenues / profit. After all, it is what is expected from everybody who works for/manages a bussiness in a capitalist economy.

Re:Mediaroom

[sixtyeight]

I remember when the content delivery industries were just starting out... shady guys in dark trenchcoats on street corners and back alleys. "Psst! Wanna try some cable TV? The first one's free."

Confusing article

[skyraker]

I think what we need to get out of this is that this is for a patent application. 1) It needs to be approved (though it probably will). 2) This does not mean they can make every remote already out there do this. What its probably intended to accomplish is give Microsoft a way to profit if TV/movie producers decide that they want to cause these charges to occur. Then Microsoft can say 'hey, we already thought of that, pay us money'.

Re:Confusing article

[currently_awake]

Patent applications should require you to submit a working prototype. Good luck with the business method patents.

Pathetic...

[Anonymous Coward]

This is so pathetic... Both the idea and the patent system itself.

Re:Pathetic...

[flytripper]

Aye. Patents are a joke. Never been a fan of Microsoft. Even less so with the introduction of paper COA's that rub off easily.

Re:Pathetic...

[MitchDev]

Patents are on the road to being just as respected as childporn and copyrights....

Re:Pathetic...

[LVSlushdat]

This is so pathetic... Both the idea and the patent system itself.

This is so pathetic... Both the idea and the patent system itself AND Microsoft...

FTFY

fsck you microsoft!

[FudRucker]

stay out of my TV and Remote!!!

Re:fsck you microsoft!

[sixtyeight]

A strong enough EMP would destroy data on all unprotected computers within its radius, and specific ELF frequencies affect emotions via the human nervous system - there's a Riot setting.

It's possible to sell a corporation's stock short, if you believe their share price will soon plummet and you promise to buy up the stock by a certain date. The result is Sell High, Buy Low. If Microsoft lost nearly all their data, their equipment blew out, and the employees were throwing conference room chairs out through the third floor window, I suspect their stock prices would decline.

Go nuts.

TV Caused my Blindness

[fast turtle]

I still can't get the last thing I saw on tv out of mind. It was such a blinding confusion of color and screeching sound that I'm now permanently blind from it. Can the Queen save God?

Although we still have a cable box, the only reason the TV is even used is for the local news so we'll be dropping that soon. Hell I don't watch it and haven't really missed it in the last 10 years because there's nothing intligent on and I'd rather read a good book.

So if I burp in a restaurant

[Ice Station Zebra]

are they going to charge me twice and if they do, is Microsoft going to sue them for patient infringement?

Re:So if I burp in a restaurant

[__aasdno7518]

are they going to charge me twice and if they do, is Microsoft going to sue them for patient infringement?

yep...

Re:Pointless, will not work without a monopoly

[fish waffle]

why would anyone use a service that forced them to pay to skip ads

You mean like slashdot subscriptions?

Black Mirror

[Sloppy]

Anyone else thinking of the second episode of Black Mirror? Hey Microsoft, let me give you a hint: that story was intended as a joke or dystopia, not an ideal to strive for.

Re:Black Mirror

[hldn]

yep, this is the first thing i thought of.

RESUME VIEWING
RESUME VIEWING

Re:Black Mirror

[Blue Stone]

Yeah - I was looking for a clip of it on Youtube to post here - but they don't have any - a shame because that programme had a great many quotable moments.

Yet another reason to torrent TV shows

[msobkow]

I don't even own a TV any more -- my computer is my media center. I became addicted to PVR technology in the US when I had DirecTV with TiVO.

When I moved back to Canada, torrents took the place of the TiVO. I'd become addicted to the idea of watching shows when I want to, instead of on some arbitrary schedule. I expected I'd watch more TV seeing as I could watch it whenever I want, but instead what happened is I started watching less -- a lot less.

For some reason, once I broke the mentality of "slave to a schedule", I soon broke the "slave to a series" mentality as well. I still download all kinds of TV series and archive them, but to be honest, I doubt I watch 2 hours of what I download per week. The rest is just archived for that inevitable some-day retirement when I expect to have time to waste time on something as unimportant as series TV.

So pay extra for skipping ads? *LMAO*

Ah well, I guess it's like an atomic weapon. Just because it can be built doesn't mean it's legal to use or would be tolerated by the public.

Oh, companies...

[Nugoo]

I wonder if, someday, I'll hear about a media or tech company doing something that doesn't make me even happier I'm a pirate.

Might be a "Good Thing"...

[X!0mbarg]

Think about it this way: If anyone does try to implement this type of thing, they have to pay Micro$oft for the Patent.
Now, if they don't wish to put such a financial burden on a system such as this, (thus increasing its cost, and reducing its appeal to the end user), they'd opt to leave such a feature out.
Active DISCOURAGEMENT of a Bad Idea by Patenting it, so they can actually DENY it to folks, and the right to Sue if anyone actually Infringes!
Big Oil has been doing this for years, tho: Buying up high fuel efficiency ideas, patenting them, and Denying them to anyone, and suing them into the ground if they try to bypass their patent.

Not that I'm For such a "feature" on any system I'd subscribe to. This would be a decent way to head such a heinous money-grab off at the pass!

Maybe "Uncle Bills' Kids" aren't as bad as we all thought...

That, or I'm simply seeing a possibility that others are far more likely to Implement than avoid...

In THAT case, say Hello to rampant 'Product Placement' as revenue! After all, I don't see ANYONE wanting a system like this anywhere near their wallet!

Replay advertisement for free TV?

[Anonymous Coward]

So if you replay the advertisement instead of skipping it, you should be charged less for the movie. Yay!

Wait...

[fullback]

This isn't from The Onion!?!

A better way of advertising

[msobkow]

One thing advertisers don't seem to understand is that I actually like catching a new ad when I watch TV at a friend's place. Many of them are very artistic, cute, and funny.

But even a good joke told 5-6 times per day wears thin.

It's the broadcast time that is the majority of the expense for most advertisements, not the creation of the content. Stop torturing people with the same joke 50-60 times per week for a month at a time, and maybe they'll stop skipping over the ads. Show a new ad each day, or at least once a week.

But stop trying to hammer your "message" into us by repeating yourself ad-nauseum at full volume dozens of times per week. All you're doing is pissing off people and forcing them to use torrents and PVRs to escape your tripe.

Modern advertising is as annoying and effective as a two or three year old yelling "Mommie, mommie, mommie, can we..." over and over for three hours straight, trying to wear down their parents.

It's my money in the end. I'm not going to spend it on your products or give it to you just because you nag like a child. In fact, I'm likely to use your competitor's product because they're not insulting my intelligence and harassing me.

Re:A better way of advertising

[msobkow]

That goes for the companies that set up "newsletters" as well. I can't tell you how many "newsletters" I've subscribed to over the years to keep tabs on a companies products, only to be inundated by weekly "specials" trying to sell me their old stuff, which I've already bought if I wanted it. Needless to say, I've unsubscribed to every single one of those email lists within a month.

Give me information about new products in your newsletter, not a regurgitated nag to buy last year's model.

Re:A better way of advertising

[Phrogman]

Well, we dropped our cable (again) about 6 months ago for several reasons.
The first reason was that there was quite literally nothing I wanted to watch on the channels available. The shows I *do* want to watch are not broadcast here
The second reason was that at ~$99/mo for basic cable, internet and home telephone through Shaw it was priced well beyond reasonable. When we signed up they gave us 6 months at almost half that price. When that expired we cancelled.
The third reason was that when you watch a TV show, 25% of what you are watching is fucking advertising. I hate advertising and for the most part if I am inundated with it, I make a mental note *not* to buy that product whatever it may be (obviously there are some exceptions but not many).
Trying to suck additional money out of my wallet via a scheme like this patent proposes just guarantees that I will never sign up again.
I really wish companies, government, etc would realize they have long since bypassed the point where they can get all my money. I am now in the position where I decide what thing I am used to I shall do without instead.
I no longer go to movies (can't stand the media companies and the horrendous pricing at the theatres).
I no longer listen to music - can't stand the media companies and I am exposed to music all the time in my environment. I do listen to radio. I rarely if ever buy DVDs/BluRay anymore because most movies are only worth watching once. Those I know I will rewatch a lot, I do pay for (LOTR for instance).

If the media companies out there don't smarten up, then they are going to fail without any doubt. They wonder why people download TV show? How about because that makes them available when *they* want to watch them, without advertisement (and without losing content to make room for advertisements), without outrageous cable fees etc.

A company like Netflix gets this. I subscribe to NF, and I like what they offer. If I need to watch something I can find it there mostly (If I can't well then perhaps its torrent time but I try to avoid that). Why? because NF is offering the content I want in a format I can access easily at any time, without advertisements and for a reasonable fee.

Its unfortunate that the only options for my internet connection rely on me choosing between Shaw or Telus, since the CRTC has been bending over to service the Canadian Media industry for decades. Since they collude to keep the prices high, it still costs about $60/mo just to get decent internet access.

Re:A better way of advertising

[msobkow]

Since they collude to keep the prices high, it still costs about $60/mo just to get decent internet access.

You can get a basic 1.5Mbit DSL or cable link from SaskTel or Access Cable here in Saskatchewan pretty much anywhere in the province for $25/month, roughly the same price as a land line. Sure I pay for a $60/month upgraded link, but that's because I need upload capacity for work, not because I needed faster downloads or couldn't stream video and audio just fine at 1.5Mbit.

Faster services are meant for multi-user households, effectively the same as if you had multiple phone lines for each connected device. Just because you can get the faster service doesn't mean you need it.

I know one fellow who pays for the 10Mbit top-tier download package, and gloats that he can pull down a movie torrent in 20 minutes. In the meantime, I can go to my sister's place and start a video stream instantly on her 1.5Mbit link. It pissed him off to no end when I pointed that out to him, and went off on a rant that sounded like Nigel's "but it goes to ELEVEN!" in Spinal Tap. :)

Re:A better way of advertising

[cyberchondriac]

If I lived by myself, I'd follow your example.
I haven't actually timed it, but my gut tells me your 25% statistic is very conservative, I'd swear advertising time is closer to 40%. Maybe not but it sure feels like it, particularly on some channels. One thing I'm sure of, commercial breaks keep growing longer year after year.
What the hell am I paying for anyway- to watch freakin' commercials?? I'm probably wrong, but wasn't the original idea of cable to watch TV without having to watch advertisements, by paying for it? Or at least, partly? But you get just as many commercials on cable as you do broadcast. And the ostensible "benefit" of having "200 channels" or so, which are mostly garbage filler and not worth paying, for doesn't begin to justify it.

I can't say this move surprises me in the least though; if DVRs are going to allow people to bypass those precious advertisements that sponsor the shows, then the sponsors will want to wage a war against DVRs, or least find a way to make more money off them to "recoup" their "lost" income.
I'm not anti-capitalist, but the whole advertising model has gone awry and been perverted, from sports stadiums and events named after banks and Insurance companies to you-name-it. How much longer before city names themselves are changed and we see Los Angeles become "Bank of America City", or a, "Chase New York" or a "Prudential Philadelphia"..?

Re:A better way of advertising

[jedidiah]

Ever heard of Wrigley field.

This "advertising problem" is nothing new really.

It aint the "World Series" because it's supposed to be the world championship...

Re:A better way of advertising

[sixtyeight]

One thing advertisers don't seem to understand is that I actually like catching a new ad when I watch TV at a friend's place. Many of them are very artistic, cute, and funny.

Sure they do. They don't care. There's a different agenda at work here.

But even a good joke told 5-6 times per day wears thin.

drip... drip... drip... drip... drip... drip...

Dogbert Static Network

[unixisc]

I'd pay for the DSN channel in addition to my regular ones, and switch to it during the commercials. And leave it to Dogbert to handle Microsoft or whoever the content provider of the advertized channel is.

One up on Apple

[gsgriffin]

As Apple is kicking themselves that they didn't think of this first. Soon to be announce an Apple TV patent that more intuitively charges you for thinking about skipping a commercial.

just get a dish and don't hook it to the phone lin

[Joe_Dragon]

just get a dish and don't hook it to the phone line.

Both dish and directv don't force you to hook there boxes to the internet or the phone line any more.

This is great!

[DRMShill]

So this means they're going to give me the option to pay a little extra and automatically skip commercials right? Right...?

Who needs cable ?

[walterbyrd]

Even more abuse, and expense, from cable companies? Why do people put up with up?

You can watch practically anything on the internet. Not to mention services like netflix, hulu, or amazon, for about $8 a month. I have heard of people paying $190 a month for comcast.

Also, I think there are ways to get HDTV from broadcast signals.

Re:Who needs cable ?

[ThatsMyNick]

There is Willow.tv for cricket. I am pretty sure there are live streaming options for every sport.

Re:Charlie Brookers Black Mirror

[Phics]

They've stolen this idea from episode two of Black Mirror.

From the patent - Filing date: Mar 19, 2004. Black Mirror originally aired in December 2011. Clearly Microsoft didn't steal this idea from Black Mirror, however, that makes it all the more chilling, does it not?

Lame

[shadowrat]

Maybe this will catch some flack, but what if they just tracked how many people fast forwarded through what content?. Then you can sell that data back to the content providers. That seems a little less punitive and depending on the spin you give it, almost a value to the consumer.

Re:Pointless, will not work without a monopoly

[shess]

why would anyone use a service that forced them to pay to skip ads

You mean like slashdot subscriptions?

Wait, slashdot has ads?

Alternate motive?

[kpainter]

I wonder if they plan use this to charge people for skipping Windows 8?

Just no

[VargrX]

No... I'm going to give you the same answer to this type of garbage that I alway's have:
READ your TOS - as far as I can tell, and that some laywer friends of mine can tell, and unless there is something specifically stating this in YOUR TOS, You are NOT liable for 'skipping advertising of any kind' when you sign your agreement with your local broadcasting company.

The advert's are nothing more than a nuisance to most people, and do absolutely nothing except provide for 'snack/bathroom break' time during the show. As far as 'advertisers/distributors /producers' aiming to make thier money back by violating your eyeballs, tough luck, they didn't pay directly for that privelege.

Re:Just no

[StewBaby2005]

"and do absolutely nothing except provide for 'snack/bathroom break' time during the show" I wonder if Advertising is responsible for the rise in obesity in the US population then? Isn't it a bit like Pavlov/Behavioural ? Once you get up to fix a snack during a break, you ALWAYS get up to fix a snack during a break, except when you are going to the restroom to relieve yourself of the aforementioned snack?

Re:Just no

[PPH]

Problem: Terms Of Service are subject to change. And who reads them anyway?

I'm going to go out on a limb here and figure that most people who watch the WWE or NASCAR pay-per-view programs aren't particularly well versed in contract law.

Re:Pointless, will not work without a monopoly

[Nerdfest]

Actually, if you participate regularly, SlashDot gives you the option to skip ads even without being a paying subscriber. Because of that, I don't block their ads.

next thing you know...

[s0litaire]

...we'll start getting "Drive by Rewinds"

A bunch of geeks high on red-bull and cheesy puffs in a 4x4 armed to the teeth with universal remote controls.
Driving the suburbs, Sega beats blaring from their iPhones, aiming their remo's at the houses pressing the rewind button.

Costing the poor householder $$$ in MS rewind fees...

Mod Parent Up

[TheNastyInThePasty]

+1 "Capitalism"

Re:Mod Parent Up

[Opportunist]

Sorry, but the system we have in place today has nothing to do with capitalism anymore.

Re:Mod Parent Up

[TheNastyInThePasty]

Hence the quotation marks

I skipped Microsoft alltogether 21 years ago

[Mister Liberty]

Linux user since 1991.

Re:I skipped Microsoft alltogether 21 years ago

[sixtyeight]

Cooler if everyone did it.

Please don't marginalize the sane people. Somewhere there's a kegger that desperately needs you.

Re:Pointless, will not work without a monopoly

[ThunderBird89]

Same here. The checkbox is there, but I don't tick it. I'm so used to ads on the internet by now that my brain edits them out, so I simply don't see them.

Go to a sports bar for those special events

[walterbyrd]

Or just don't watch sports, it's a total waste of time.

As if posting on slashdot is more productive.

it's things like this...

[roc97007]

...that stand in the way of widespread (non-geek) acceptance of streaming content. Let's use the diaper commercial as one example: My daughter has long been out of diapers, and I'm not yet in them again, so what is the purpose of watching the commercial? What does the advertiser get from that?

It comes down to this: If hitting the forward and back buttons are going to start costing me money, I'll find a way to view content where that doesn't apply. The content providers don't yet understand, even after all these years, that they're competing with free. They have to do better than expect revenue for skipping past inappropriate commercials before we will agree to use their service.

And MPAA/RIAA wonder why people pirate so much.

[Cito]

This is just another example of why piracy is best choice.

I used to work for Directv satellite and we had printouts of the percentage of commercials on every channel, with ESPN coming in as the highest rate of commercials topping just over 80% commercials to around 20% content ratio. These were all part of "talking points" for corporate and VIP customers mainly.

I personally got fed up with spam tv, We don't like spam in our inbox, we don't like junkmail at our home mailbox. So why should we put up with spam everywhere?

Around 1998 I had had enough with spam and cut pay tv all together and went 100% pirate. Since 1998 I started with newsgroups and was working at an ISP that had an employees only FTP server filled with tons of movies and tv shows.

Then went with torrents and still using newsgroups

I got an older laptop I installed XBMC on it, I installed the http://icefilms.info/ plugin on it, as well as few other plugins which is what I use now.

1998 - 2012 so far I have enjoyed spam free television/movies. There is no way in hell I would ever go back to anything with commercials...Noone should put up with spam tv anymore, the only way to stop it is for everyone to "block" it and remove themself from the spam. As companies see this occurring they will have to change their entire market strategy or I would hope so.

Fuck Spam and any hardware that facilitates it.

My friend did this...

[yanom]

My friend had an annyoing teenage neighbor who kept shooting paintballs at his house. Rather than call the cops, he figured out how to use his remote on the kid's TV, and switched it to the Playboy Channel the instant his mom walked in.

Only one proper response to this:

[kheldan]

"FUCK YOU, Microsoft". Any other response indicates a fatal lack of resolve against bullshit like this.

Re:Only one proper response to this:

[Lodragandraoidh]

Agreed. This is why I finally broke down and removed Windows from my personal computer network. This also has forced me to come to terms with what I've been tentatively circling around for years: if it doesn't exist today, and I want it in my environment, I'm going to have to build it myself.

This is also why I advocate alternatives to remove inefficient middle men from the picture:

Support Indy art, music, movies and other programming (shows/podcasts) - develop alternatives to the standard advertising pay mode that really only benefits the middle men. Provide means for everyone to enjoy and stream the works, and reward Indy artists directly. radioreddit.com is a good example of just such a system at work.

Create and/or support Free and Open Source software - help make the world a better place for everyone.

Ultimately, there is too much fat in the system - time to cut it out because it is not economically feasible to continue to support it over the long haul.

how about justifying constitutionality in patents

[maddogsparky]

The US constitution gives Congress the power to grant patents to "promote science and the useful arts". How do patents like this promote either? Note that "business" is not an art-that falls under interstate commerce regulation (clearly not mentioned in the section describing justification for patents).

I, for one, would love to see the courts start throwing out abuses of the law happening all over the place that don't meet a plain reading of the constitution as it was understood by the rgular voters who ratified it in the first place.

Re:Yet more reasons to drive people to..

[jedidiah]

This insanity makes any sort of "disconnected" media experience have more value. It doesn't have to be piracy. It could be a conventional DVD player.

You don't have to pirate in order to accumulate a media stockpile that allows you to turn your back on this sort of crap.

Re:Pointless, will not work without a monopoly

[NovaHorizon]

I have to agree with that. I never even noticed slashdot has ads until I was presented with that option to turn them off and finally noticed one. I have yet to actually use that option. Perhaps we can get a statistic on how many readers have that options and have left the ads running?

Obligatory SMBC comic

[azrael29a]

Obligatory SMBC comic: http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2490#comic This is what will happen when you allow viewers to skip ads ;)

Prior Art in bad jokes.

[Requiem18th]

What amazes me is how OLD is this idea. People have been making jokes about TVs that refuse or chare you for muteing or skiping ads or turning it off since forever. It's exactly the kind of dystopic future that is often deemed unrealistic and exagerated fantasy of luddites and hippies. Anf snd now we have the patent for it...

Maybe not so bad

[Lewis Daggart]

When I first read this I thought it was dreadful, but what if it was used smartly. What if the cable companies introduced a lower tier of service, where it costs less for the base subscription, and you're charged for every commercial you skip, up to a price a little higher than the next tier service? They could grab a larger percentage of people who think that cable isn't worth it at current prices, while showing investors and advertisers a model with less risk. The micro transactions could give the consumer a feeling of value and choice over when to skip commercials.

Why do I keep hearing...

[I_am_Jack]

...the Central Services jingle, and then look around for Harry Tuttle to come to our rescue.

Re:Pointless, will not work without a monopoly

[Eightbitgnosis]

That's one way, but who on Slashdot isn't already running NoScript and/or AdBlocker Plus, or the like?

So watching TV will come with a EULA?

[gelfling]

Sounds like that's the plan. You no longer own your own life, you merely rent it from large corporations.

Dear Microsoft Shill

[fireylord]

Bite me many thanks

Wait

[fireylord]

You are saying that 10Mbit is the top tier? Man that's ridiculous. I take it your government not appreciate the advantages to their economy as a whole that decent, universally affordable high speed internet access brings.

Re:Yet more reasons to drive people to..

[ausrob]

Sure, except for regional encoding/region locking, advertisements your DVD player is programmed not to allow you to skip.. need I go on?

Luckily there are Chinese made players out there that don't enforce region locking, and which allow you to fast forward past anything... :) Not sure what the status is with BluRay (which is also region locked).

Re:Pointless, will not work without a monopoly

[digitalsolo]

I saw the same and did the same. The fact that they politely offered me the ability to disable ads was reason enough for me to leave them enabled.

This is why I will never pay for cable.

[David_The_Expert]

This is why I will never pay for cable. It's all on the pirate bay anyway :D

Re:advantage Microsoft...

[wannabgeek]

you're forgetting facebook.

Dead language? English?

[zooblethorpe]

& etc.

"etc." means "et cetera". Using "&" before it means you don't know its meaning. Stop using it.

"And et cetera." Bite my shiny metal ass. We are using a dead language, ffs.

Wow, you learn something new every day. I had no idea that English was dead.

Will Netcraft confirm it? Is English dying? Film at 11.

Re:Pointless, will not work without a monopoly

[genkernel]

I have never noticed the ads, even though I do not have that option turned off, either.

I have adblock.

Freeloaders

[formfeed]

As the content to advertising ratio keeps getting worse, it makes me want to spend even less time in front of the tube.

There are many things I wouldn't be fully aware of, if my quality entertainment were not augmented by informative but yet entertaining advertisement. How can you not pay attention, while women in white pants enjoy horse back riding on the beach, while couples finally find a solution to his little problem, and house wifes discover new products, that create the clean world they deserve?

But of course they wouldn't have to show that many commercials if it weren't for all those freeloaders that don't pay any attention during the commercial breaks and instead go to the bathroom, the fridge, or even talk loudly to other people over the commercial. I'm glad someone is finally doing something about those freeloaders.

Re:Dead language? English?

[Anonymous Coward]

Et cetera is a Latin expression that means "and other things", or "and so forth". It is taken directly from the Latin expression which literally means "and the rest (of such things)" and is a loan-translation of the Greek " " (kai ta hetera; "and the other things". The more usual Greek form is " ": "and the remainder"). Et means "and"; ctera means "the rest".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_cetera

"Et cetra" is latin hence the dead language.

Re:Dead language? English?

[tqk]

Thank you, and I'll admit my mistake. There's a redundant "and" in what I wrote. It's a fair cop. Mix a (should be) dead language up with a living language, and !@#$ happens.

I really enjoy hanging out with you people.

Re:Pointless, will not work without a monopoly

[blackraven14250]

It also helps that /. has a relatively low number of unintrusive ads anyway.

Good thing they can't pull it off

[AlexReidy]

At least Microsoft is the patent holder. Since when do they have anything to do with television? We only have to worry if Verizon gets the rights to that patent.

Re:Dead language? English?

[Whiteox]

Well instead you could write 'and the rest' instead of 'et cetera' etc.

Re:Dead language? English?

[tqk]

Well instead you could write 'and the rest' instead of 'et cetera' etc.

Damn, you people are funny at times. :-)

You're doing it wrong ...

[LrdDimwit]

If the ads are more interesting than the movie, you may need to look into your taste in movies ...

Re:You're doing it wrong ...

[Opportunist]

I kinda feel I shouldn't have to adjust my taste in movies to fit the quality of movies.