Microsoft patents device to stop playback if too many people are on the couch

http://www.gamespot.com/news/microsoft-patents-tech-that-watches-viewers-6399616

This is not a joke: I checked and April 1st is still months away. Microsoft has patented a device that counts the people sitting in front of the TV and negates access to media content if too many people are watching until you pay more money.

Basically, in the (near?) future, shows and movies you rent on XBOX, Netflix or what have you, may come with a user limit, past which playback will stop and you will need to pay extra money for it to resume. Simply put, the more people you invite to sit in front of the TV, the more you're going to pay.

The way I see it, this is an orwellian nightmare: imagine if you decide to rent a movie and unexpected guests comes visiting and you welcome them on the couch to share the movie, at which point playback stops until you pay extra for each new viewer.

Also, this sounds a lot like a rib of Kinect technology and we all know how well that crap works, right? Imagine the stupid device mistaking a table lamp for a head or a coat rack for a person and negating playback out of the blue. And let's not even go on the potential privacy violation of having a camera constantly watching you whenever you want to watch something.

Is there no bottom to the Microsoft barrel? And then they complain about piracy.

It's not going to happen. People are not going to pay more money for something like this.

Not going to happen. It would be too easy to trick. Just disconnect the Kinect, or if that doesn't work aim it towards a part of the room that only has one or two people in it. Seriously companies patent stuff they never use all the time. I know MS is greedy, but this kind of stuff will never fly with consumers.

If that REALLY would come true, let's just all have sex in front of it all the time, just to make the people who'd have to survey it reeeeaaaallyyyyyy sick all the time.

REVENGE in style :cool:

I doubt it would come to fruition, but when I read this article this morning, the calisthenics scene in 1984 immediately popped into my head.Canvas_Of_Flesh

What calistentics scene in 1984?

That's kind of funny really. I'd make it so the first half hour of a movie would play just fine, and then a message will come up on the screen demanding more money.

People will grumble and then pay it.

Now watch Kinect 2 be a standard part of the Xbox 720.

The thing is a terrible idea and a huge violation of privacy, I agree, but I can't imagine there not being a consumer outrage over this if it was implemented. So what, now that the whole family wants to watch a movie, parents are going to be charged more? This is simply ridiculous.

There is no way that Xbox owners will let this slide. Ever. If this is true then Microsoft is digging its own grave.

[QUOTE="Canvas_Of_Flesh"]I doubt it would come to fruition, but when I read this article this morning, the calisthenics scene in 1984 immediately popped into my head.Metamania

What calistentics scene in 1984?

Unless it is mandatory to have the console connected to the internet at all times, this doesn't even make sense.

I think M$ is just doing the big business thing and patenting something useless, thats never going be used (god I'm hoping it won't be used), so its competitors can't use a similar idea.

This would be pretty fun if it were to happen. Imagine the riots.

That is pretty stupid. Always trying to control.

People patent all sorts of weird gizmos that never see the light of day. Sony patented a universal game controller a couple years ago and there hasn't been any progress on that front. So until there's some signs of this thing actually existing, I won't bother worrying about it.

Also Twilight is dumb.GodModeEnabled

[QUOTE="GodModeEnabled"]Also Twilight is dumb.Black_Knight_00

[QUOTE="Black_Knight_00"]

[QUOTE="GodModeEnabled"]Also Twilight is dumb.GodModeEnabled

George Orwell's worst visions come true, all the cameras in your home's devises turning on without your control, monitoring who you are, who you are with, what you wear, what you eat and drink, etc. This is one of the most messed up patents I've ever seen disclosed regarding violation of intimacy. I know it is "just a patent" but it only takes people with little scruples and ample greed to make the decision to include this tech on the next generation of MS hardware. The idea of Kinect is a despicable one to begin with, this is even worse.SciFiCat

i wonder if any thing that resembles people or heads in posters is going to it stop playing...

[QUOTE="SciFiCat"]George Orwell's worst visions come true, all the cameras in your home's devises turning on without your control, monitoring who you are, who you are with, what you wear, what you eat and drink, etc. This is one of the most messed up patents I've ever seen disclosed regarding violation of intimacy. I know it is "just a patent" but it only takes people with little scruples and ample greed to make the decision to include this tech on the next generation of MS hardware. The idea of Kinect is a despicable one to begin with, this is even worse.Black_Knight_00

[QUOTE="GodModeEnabled"][QUOTE="Black_Knight_00"] Dumb people need entertainment too. You don't feed foie-gras to a cow, am I right?Black_Knight_00

They are a technological company... They have thousands of patents... They just get a patent on it because they made it and are future proofing...

20 years from now you might be able to turn your living room into a theater and pay to watch new movies still in theaters and this tech could come into play somehow (who knows)? But if it does and movie companies want to do it, guess what Microsoft has the patent and gets paid... Its just what they do...

[QUOTE="Black_Knight_00"][QUOTE="SciFiCat"]George Orwell's worst visions come true, all the cameras in your home's devises turning on without your control, monitoring who you are, who you are with, what you wear, what you eat and drink, etc. This is one of the most messed up patents I've ever seen disclosed regarding violation of intimacy. I know it is "just a patent" but it only takes people with little scruples and ample greed to make the decision to include this tech on the next generation of MS hardware. The idea of Kinect is a despicable one to begin with, this is even worse.SciFiCat

This is my biggest issue. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I don't like the idea of cameras in my home that could possibly be monitoring me. If the use of Kinect is mandatory with the next Xbox, I will not be getting the system.

another problem i can for see if , some one happens to own more then one tv and their both in the same vincinity it sees the extra person even though they aint watching , you gotta pay more because their there

this does sound like a privacy concern -how can it not be

imagine 2 people making love in front of it haha

It's not going to happen. People are not going to pay more money for something like this.

Metamania