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Posted by Allan on 10/06/02 11:45
http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/18/philips-patent-app-would-force-you-to-watch-commercials-both-li/
Update 1: Reader Paul B, who also happened to chair the group that
wrote the MHP PVR specification, writes to inform us that "there is no
such flag as standard in the spec. Philips could add one as a
Philips-specific flag but it wouldn't apply to the other
manufacturers. Secondly, as currently specificed there is no way for
an MHP application to take control of the channel switching function,
so changing channels always works." There you have it folks; it seems
that all your MHP-equipped gear is safe -- for now.
Update 2: Royal Philips Electronics, ever mindful of their
Engadget-reading customers, had this to say in a note to us:
"(Philips) filed a patent application, as yet not granted, that
enables watching a television movie without advertising. However, some
people do want to see the ads. So, we developed a system where the
viewer can choose, at the beginning of a movie, to either watch the
movie without ads, or watch the movie with ads. It is up to the viewer
to take this decision, and up to the broadcaster to offer the various
services. Philips never had the intention to force viewers to watch
ads against their will and does not use this technology in any current
Philips products, nor do we have any plans to do so."
"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_
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