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Will Microsoft Dis-Kinect Freeloading TV Viewers?

Posted by samzenpus on from the watching-the-watchers dept.

theodp writes "Just when you think the cable TV viewing experience couldn't get any worse, GeekWire reports on the Microsoft Xbox Incubation team's patent-pending Consumer Detector, which uses cameras and sensors like those in the Xbox 360 Kinect controller to monitor, count and in some cases identify the people in a room watching television, movies and other content. Should the number of viewers detected exceed the limits of a particular content license, the system would halt playback unless additional viewing rights were purchased."

4 of 478 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Masking tape by JustOK · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "No one is watching. Guess I'll turn off then."

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    rewriting history since 2109
  2. more copying by jbmartin6 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I am enthusiastic about Microsoft's apparent desire to increase illegal copying.

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  3. Re:Masking tape by Megane · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Tampering detected, TV shuts off and you're fucked.

    Fuck that, I've heard of this new show called "Outside", and you don't even need a TV to watch it. It's in super HD and it even has some sort of temperature generators, so hot stuff feels hot and cold stuff feels cold. Take that Hollywood 3-D!

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    #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  4. Re:Masking tape by Baloroth · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Kinect has (and would probably use for identification anyways) an infrared camera. I doubt a photo would work on that very well. Better idea is just don't use the damned XBox for movies if it does this.

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    "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton