April 20, 2006
Philips Patents DRM To Stop Commercial Skipping, Changing Channels
According to DesignTechnica,
Philips has patented a “technology … [that] would prevent users from
changing channels to avoid watching television commercials as well as
prevent viewers from fast-forwarding through recorded advertisements.”
Why would Philips invent such an absurd restriction when it will
never be voluntarily licensed? After all, in a competitive market,
technology companies who adopt Philips’ patented system will be shunned
by customers; no one wants a device that says, “Now improved — blocks
changing channels during commercials!”
Perhaps Philips believes that, at some point in the future,
Hollywood might push for a government mandate forcing technology
companies to incorporate anti-skipping technology. If that happens,
this patent could be the federally-set standard, and tech creators
would have to pay Philips every time they want to sell a new device.
Instead of wasting its time with this anti-user opportunism, Philips
should focus on building technologies that satisfy its customers.
(Cross posted at Deep Links)
Filed by Derek Slater at 9:51 pm under General news
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