News Microsoft patents auto-censorship

[CardJoe]

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/10...o-censorship/1

Microsoft has been granted a patent on a system to scan an audio stream - live or pre-recorded - for predefined 'bad' words and automatically censor them.

[Cobalt]

I would love to see this as an XBL plugin. Actually it'd be good for counter strike as well

This sort of technology was bound to arrive eventually regardless of who developed it, concerns about privacy and censorship are valid but at least in the "free world" we shouldn't have to worry much about that. For a while at any rate. I wouldn't put it past China though.

[shigllgetcha]

id like to see this on live. actually id like to see every conversation in an open lobby/game logged so idiots could be banned from either using live or speaking over live. the amount of racial crap and "im gonna kill you" crap on live gets really tired quick. Intimidating people over the internet is just a waste of time, you dont even know the other persons real name let alone where they live

aslong as it censored abusive language as opposed to just the odd f word here and there that youd natuarly use in conversation or frustration. Which im sure it would.

it might help raise peoples perceptions of live. thats if its even intended to ever hit live

[adamc]

it would be good if users could enter their own words for beepage.

[proxess]

Its not a bad idea for parental control or people which can't really be bothered with excessive profanity, but it may also be used in really stupid situations. From now on every time you watch a streamed video that mentions Google, you will no longer hear Google. Nor Mac, nor Canonical nor Linux nor many others. Either that or there will be a warning "Are you sure you wan't to hear the next word?".

[Flibblebot]

Originally Posted by adamc

it would be good if users could enter their own words for beepage.

"I'm going to cheesecake you, you cheesecaking cheesecake"

[shigllgetcha]

if it could be used to stop people breathing down the mic like a pervert in a plaground itd definately be usefull

[Almightyrastus]

As long as the end user is free to turn it on or off then fine, more options are always good as long as they stay as options

[DarkLord7854]

Originally Posted by Almightyrastus

As long as the end user is free to turn it on or off then fine

I agree, if I can turn it on/off at will, then I'm down with it

[TreeDude]

I just mute annoying/offensive people, no fancy tech needed.

[dr-strangelove]

'Reaches for tinfoil hat'

Seriously though this could be a good idea in principle but it will cetainly end up censoring far more than you would really want. I'd hate to have to give Vista my Administrator's permission to play every profanity in every song I listen to. I agree with others who say it would be fine so long as there is an on/off switch but since when has microsoft given its users any options?

[Gravemind123]

Originally Posted by dr-strangelove

'Reaches for tinfoil hat'

Seriously though this could be a good idea in principle but it will cetainly end up censoring far more than you would really want. I'd hate to have to give Vista my Administrator's permission to play every profanity in every song I listen to. I agree with others who say it would be fine so long as there is an on/off switch but since when has microsoft given its users any options?

I agree that this is a step in the wrong direction, but I think there is no way Microsoft could get away initially with making this sort of feature mandatory. It will probably be like UAC, Automatic Updates, Windows Firewall, etc... that not everyone needs or wants on, but they include by default with a turn-off switch. I wouldn't buy any product with this being on all the time with no off-switch, but as long as I always have a turn-off option it doesn't really bother me, just like UAC in Vista.

[johnmustrule]

I don't think mass censorship is really a possibility with this system, people are going to notice if whole sentences have been removed from a video, and they're gonna boycott like usual. The only real way to sensor people is to not have the video shown at all, even in part.

[LordPyrinc]

As some sort of parental control I'm okay with it, but in general, I do not agree with censorship. I think there is a lot more to worry about in society than just words. Sure, words can offend, inspire hate and anger, but often it's the people that remain quiet that are the ones you have to watch out for the most. Those that will smile and talk all nice, but when you are not around, their true nature comes out. I'd rather people be honest and up front so you know where you stand. Hiding the problems in the world with censorship is not going to fix anything. People need to have open dialogue on issues in order to heal wounds.