Are They Serious?

[BostonMark]

What would be better

is if the technology could send a signal to your refrigerator that would not allow you to open the door during the commercial breaks, and a similar device on your toilet seat. Hopefully soon, Philips and Sony could get together and pass a law that requires special circuits in our eyes to hold them open during the commercial and also gauge our reactions to the advertised products.

Some other ideas would be a death ray that instantly kills anyone attempting to make a back up copy of a DVD, CD or TV program. Yes, I am looking very forward to the bright beautiful future!

 

[JohnA]

Actually, I think that's a GREAT idea!... here's why...

The "flags" that trigger the ability for the system to prevent the viewer from changing the channel or blocking out commercials can be easily hacked to allow someone to build a circuit that would turn off the commercials with the use of that flag!

If they want to make something successful in blocking commercials, it can't have any kind of "flag" or "trigger".

You beat me to it...24 hrs after it hit the market, there would be a hack for it, if not sooner.

 

[Pyrrho]

I think a bunch of you are way overreacting. You don't seem to realize the kinds of things Philips has been doing in the past. For example, they make their DVD players such that they are generally very easy to hack to make region free, so you can bypass the region coding that movie studios often put into DVDs. Typically, one simply enters a code via the remote control, that is easy to find on the internet. They also typically make their players compatible with both PAL and NTSC, making it so that they can play any DVD sold anywhere in the world (once you have hacked the region coding). Some other companies, like Panasonic, typically make their players so unhackable that it takes circuit modification to bypass the region coding. (Please note, "typically" means what it usually means, so what I am saying does not necessarily apply to all players made by these companies.) Also, Philips has been very much against the copy protection modifications to CDs (which have made them unplayable in some players), going so far as to take legal action and make the makers of such abominations NOT have them labeled as a "CD", because they do not follow the proper format. And Philips makes plenty of CDs themselves, so they have as much to lose with pirating as anyone. Now, with a history like that, do you really think Philips is going to seriously try to screw over people with junk that other companies want? With Philips owning the patent, NO ONE ELSE can use it without Philips' permission, and then they must use it according to Philips' standards.

As I said before, many patents are made for things that are never made, so getting your panties in a twist over a patent for non-existing products is just plain silly. Some of you need to learn to relax and not get worried over nothing.

 

[Dan]

This is from the company that told Han Tendeloo he was over the hill and must retire. He headed the project that invented the CD and is a hell of a nice guy.

 

[shokhead]

I must be one of the only people in the US that doesn't watch the Sopranos.

I guess we can hope that Philips is trying to patent it so nobody else can, and is planning to bury it deeply so it never again sees the light of day?

Nah, they just figure they can make money off of both ends.

I've never seen it once. Dont have any pay channels.

 

[ian1386]

I wouldn't mind if it meant that I didn't have to pay for cable/satellite tv, but seeing as I'm shelling out $70/month, I don't really care to be forced to watch tv.

 

[ScottMayo]

If they want to make something successful in blocking commercials, it can't have any kind of "flag" or "trigger".

No. All they have to do is put the all logic that decrypts the data stream, handles the flag and outputs the video, into a single chip, and keep the encryption secret. You'll never see the flag - it wil be part of an encrypted stream, and the chip won't output it. If you just record the encrypted stream, you still need their chip to decode it. If you hack the stream, it will fail to decrypt and you'll get nothing.

As someone else noted, boycott any company that produces this and any vendor that carries their products, and it would fall off the market in weeks. They can make tamperproof technology, but they can't control market forces.

 

[pikers]

Brilliant Idea!!

Maybe if they get it passed, which is doubtful, they can sell a little black box for a few hundred bucks that cancels the encryption.

Phillips, "Making life a little less enjoyable."

As far as boycotting; Boycot what? Since the '80s these guys haven't put their own label on anything worth buying.

As if we needed another reason to prefer Replay.