Microsoft Patent Monetizes Your TV Remote

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Microsoft Patent Monetizes Your TV Remote

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday March 17, 2012 @01:30AM from the you-will-pay-in-all-the-ways-you-are-able dept.

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.'"

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too late by alphatel · 2012-03-17 01:30 · Score: 5, Funny

I skipped this article.

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When the foot seeks the place of the head, the line is crossed. Know your place. Keep your place. Be a shoe.
1. Re:too late by houstonbofh · 2012-03-17 02:40 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Well, it will drive more to piracy. And they will think it is just cost...
2. Re:too late by tqk · 2012-03-17 02:55 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  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.
  
  --
  "Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit ..." -- Pink Floyd.
3. Re:too late by hairyfeet · 2012-03-17 03:03 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  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.
  
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  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
4. Re:too late by Ihmhi · 2012-03-17 04:10 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  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.
  
  --
  Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
5. Re:too late by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-17 04:11 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  & etc.
  "etc." means "et cetera". Using "&" before it means you don't know its meaning. Stop using it.
6. Re:too late by kent_eh · 2012-03-17 06:10 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  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.
  
  --
  
  ---
  "I can't complain, but sometimes still do..." Joe Walsh
7. Re:too late by SuperTechnoNerd · 2012-03-17 06:34 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  "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?
8. Re:too late by sixtyeight · 2012-03-17 08:00 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Then I for one am glad they don't build Pacemakers.
  
  --
  The Wolfpack Project: BitCoin + Crowdfunding = Political Accountability
9. Re:too late by BurningFeetMan · 2012-03-17 09:28 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  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!
well fuck you! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-17 01:35 · Score: 3, Insightful

and you realy expect people dont find ways to steal media content from the web?
1. Re:well fuck you! by AngryDeuce · 2012-03-17 02:56 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  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.
2. Re:well fuck you! by Opportunist · 2012-03-17 05:05 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  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!
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
let's be consistent by tverbeek · 2012-03-17 01:36 · Score: 5, Funny

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

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1. Re:let's be consistent by MacTO · 2012-03-17 02:19 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  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.
2. Re:let's be consistent by Opportunist · 2012-03-17 05:06 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  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?
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Fortunately I don't habe a TV remote by gweihir · 2012-03-17 01:37 · Score: 3, Interesting

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.

--
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
1. Re:Fortunately I don't habe a TV remote by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-17 01:44 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Obligatory Onion
  http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-tel,429/
See also by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-17 01:38 · Score: 3, Informative

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... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-17 01:39 · Score: 4, Interesting

...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.
Maybe MS will help us out here by DynamoJoe · 2012-03-17 01:40 · Score: 3, Insightful

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

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bah.
1. Re:Maybe MS will help us out here by Maow · 2012-03-17 02:13 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  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 by rogueippacket · 2012-03-17 01:45 · Score: 3, Interesting

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:Pointless, will not work without a monopoly by fish+waffle · 2012-03-17 02:03 · Score: 4, Funny

why would anyone use a service that forced them to pay to skip ads
You mean like slashdot subscriptions?
Might be a "Good Thing"... by X!0mbarg · 2012-03-17 02:13 · Score: 4, Interesting

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!
A better way of advertising by msobkow · 2012-03-17 02:26 · Score: 4, Insightful

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.

--
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
Who needs cable ? by walterbyrd · 2012-03-17 02:32 · Score: 3, Insightful

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.
Alternate motive? by kpainter · 2012-03-17 02:49 · Score: 5, Funny

I wonder if they plan use this to charge people for skipping Windows 8?
Re:Pointless, will not work without a monopoly by Nerdfest · 2012-03-17 03:23 · Score: 4, Informative

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... by s0litaire · 2012-03-17 03:27 · Score: 4, Funny

...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...

--
Laters Sol "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
Re:Just no by StewBaby2005 · 2012-03-17 04:07 · Score: 3, Interesting

"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?