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Microsoft Patents the Censoring of Speech
Posted by
Soulskill
on Sun Oct 19, 2008 09:11 AM
from the %$!#-!%-!%!$-##%-$@#! dept.
from the %$!#-!%-!%!$-##%-$@#! dept.
theodp writes "On Tuesday, the USPTO awarded Microsoft a patent for the Automatic Censorship of Audio Data for Broadcast, an invention that addresses 'producing censored speech that has been altered so that undesired words or phrases are either unintelligible or inaudible.' The patent describes methods for muting offensive words and replacing them with less offensive versions, and 'a third alternative provides for overwriting the undesired word with a masking sound, i.e., "bleeping" the undesired word with a tone.' After all, there's nothing worse than being subjected to offensive speech when you're shooting someone in the head."
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Yay! (Score:3, Insightful)
So now the parents of kids too young to play dont have to worry about letting them play!!
Come on, if you're old enough to play the game, you're old enough to either deal with it or tell them to stuff a sock in it. There are so many other options to work with. Why not just mute the stupid player? Or not even use the voip at all? Like the article says, its only really used for trash talk anyway. Unless I know who I'm playing with, I'm not going to try and coordinate anything.
Stupid idea.
BTW first post!
Re:Yay! (Score:4, Funny)
What's worse, do they bother censoring the ideas, or do they just use softer words?
Hey, you mother[LOVER] I'm going to skull[LOVE] your [LOVING] corpse and then I'm going to get you down on your knees and get your corpse to [WHISTLE] on my [SKINFLUTE]
Or would the Microsoft device just change the whole sentence to something like
[I LIKE YOU. WE SHOULD GET TOGETHER FOR AGE APPROPRIATE SOCIAL BEVERAGES.]
Parent
Re: (Score:3)
Why not just mute the stupid player? Or not even use the voip at all? Like the article says, its only really used for trash talk anyway. Unless I know who I'm playing with, I'm not going to try and coordinate anything.
Maybe it's only used for trash talk because stupid kids trash talking prevents anyone from having a civilized game. I mean, I don't play these kinds of games online *because* of all the "new to their testosterone" little brats running around using "fag" like it's punctuation. It's a tragedy of the commons situation.
Muting the player can invite retaliation, and muting everyone (by not using VoIP) is just sticking your head in the sand. If this kind of software works, then I'd love to see it as an option w
Useless (Score:5, Insightful)
Trust me when I say you can come up with new curses faster than you can code them into an automatic censorship proram...
Nevermind all the fantastic new accents this is going to promote. And if you disagree; well quck you.
Re:Useless (Score:5, Interesting)
Pondering this make me feel a whole lot better about the whole enterprise. I'm all in favor of protecting budding young minds from the use of profanity as a substitute for creative expression... by teaching them that profanity is the inspiration for expressing yourself creatively. Also I like the thought of someone going to their manager and saying, "I need a ruling on 'defecating masonry'. Can we let that go?"
Parent
Re:Useless (Score:5, Funny)
Good thinking. I often think the standard of cursing in this language tends to be woefully inadequate, consisting of the mindless and dull repetition of combinations of the same four-letter words. For once, Microsoft could be doing something positive to improve articulacy of profane expression. It might not be what they intend, but I won't lose any sleep over that.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Combinations of even one four-letter word, when used creatively, can be quite educational. [nailmaster.ru]
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm all in favor of protecting budding young minds from the use of profanity
My parents kept tight controls over what I was allowed to see/hear. Fortunately, I learned profanity from other kids on the playground at school.
Re:Useless (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm all in favor of protecting budding young minds from the use of profanity as a substitute for creative expression...
I know I speak for many of us here when I say:
Fuck you.
Keep your intellectual parenting persuits where they belong: in your home. Raise your own fucking kids, and let me raise mine without government interference. We'll let them both compete in 20 years and see who did a better job.
The moment you get your way with bad language censorship, I get my way with religious censorship.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
I should have read your comment completely before posting... I think I misinterpreted what you were saying. Sorry about that. :)
But it still stands for the others who feel language police are an acceptable limit on society.
Re:Useless (Score:5, Funny)
"Copulate that excrement!"
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
"Fornicate that stool"?
Re:Useless (Score:4, Funny)
Dude, don't disrespect your fellow Slashdot posters. That's crunked up.
Parent
I'm sceptical (Score:3, Insightful)
Question: how will it cope with people using stuff like "Jesus/G-d" as an expletive? That sort of thing is offensive to many people too.
Imagine if people started using Muhammad as an expletive. You can't just censor every mention of Muhammad because that will get you in big trouble too
It'll be interesting if the system can tell from the cont
Re:I'm sceptical (Score:4, Interesting)
I actually don't have a big problem with people saying fuck or using other expletives. To me there's a use for expletives. For example, if you were walking about and minding your own business, then some vehicle veered off the road and took your arm off. Now that's a perfectly valid time to say fuck or whatever.
I just find it silly when people use it as punctuation. It's like reviewers giving 100% or 0% ratings in all of their reviews. Amusing for a few seconds at most.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
And what about foreign languages where normal words are pronounced like curses in English.
And other funny effects like in France where the Toyota MR2 will become the Toyota <bleep>. (MR2 will be pronounced like the french curse "Merde").
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, but it could be a great tool for radio and TV stations. Even if it doesn't get rid of the manual bleep-out guy, it might make his job a lot easier. It's not entirely worthless because it doesn't solve the problem 100%... that's like saying we should never make gasoline engines more fuel-efficient unless we can skip all the way to zero emissions in one step.
How original (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:How original (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
How fun. This as already ben done in spain for some organization alike the RIAA called SGAE [escolar.net].
note: humm... Linux is betwen moron and fucking here. I will make it bold.
Here is the code:
palabras="mafiosos, ladrones, hijos de puta, hijo putas, chorizos, chupopteros, chupópteros, sangrantes, sangrais, sangráis, gilipoyas, por el culo, joderos, que os jodan, chaqueteros, mierda, agilipollao, alamierda, bujarra, bujarrilla, bujarron, bujarrón, cabron, cabrón, cabrona, cabronas, cabroncete, cabr
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks! A great new word of the day! And even I understand it.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm intrigued. (Score:3, Interesting)
Naturally, I didn't read the article, but I have to say I'm intrigued by this. It would come in extremely handy for radio stations if they no longer needed to have a delay on their live broadcasts. It would especially benefit college radio stations because they often have to limit what they can allow on air since they cannot afford the equipment that is required to have a delay. Although this technology might be very expensive as well, so who knows. I guess I ought to swallow my pride and read the article!
Re: (Score:2)
.
That the "live mike" is dangerous is a lesson broadcasters have had to learn and re-learn since KDKA went on the air in 1920.
Self-Censorship is intelligent and responsible:
There will always be some damn fool on the line waiting for his chance to say that "The President has been shot!"
Next up: (Score:2)
CC.
Oh come on..... (Score:5, Insightful)
Broadcasters can be, and have been fined thousands of dollars PER EVENT, through violations of FCC rules. One slip of the tongue should not be the basis for fining a program out of existance.
A tool to help in that regards DOES NOT equal sensorship, and the title is a ridiculous assertion that hurts credibility around here.
Hate Microsoft if you want, but Christ, why be stupid about it?
What is next? "Microsoft wants to eat your babies"?
As supposedly logic-driven geeks, can we not do better?
Re:Oh come on..... (Score:5, Funny)
No, no, no. "Microsoft Sues Baby Eaters for Copyright Infringement". Pay attention.
Parent
Re:Oh come on..... (Score:4, Funny)
You must be new here.
IAAPL (I am a Patent Lawyer) ... as an engineer, I loved Slashdot. As a lawyer, I now know better and just come on here for laughs. It's like watching Sarah Palin discuss patent law.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
I'd much prefer that, do you suppose we could take up a collection and procure her services? I'd far rather think of her saying the idiotic stuff than some pale geek that doesn't actually know anything about it.
Re:Oh come on..... (Score:4, Funny)
Careful, we're talking about lawyers here. By now, someone has probably patented "a method whereby a human is elevated off the ground be means of large vegetable structures for the purposes of punishment".
Try it and you'll be in a world of hurt.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
No you won't. I always introduce myself as an engineer.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
What exactly is inaccurate about the headline? That's what their program does -- it censors speech.
Actually, I agree with you. The FCC and the constant state of moral panic over words and god forbid naked people is absurd.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
More wardrobe malfunctions please! (Score:2)
Actually, I agree with you. The FCC and the constant state of moral panic over words and god forbid naked people is absurd.
The world did not end when Janet Jackson flashed a boob at half time in the Superbowl.
I find it very disturbing that there was so much outrage over that incident, but no one seems to care about the amount of violence on TV. Bare breast bad, gun shot through the head good. Sigh.
I miss Japanese TV. Tokyo channel 13 had this great show they played on late Friday night called Mini Skirt Police. Among other things, you could see young ladies crumpling beer cans with their breasts. Another memorable segment
Re: (Score:2)
Broadcasters can be, and have been fined thousands of dollars PER EVENT, through violations of FCC rules.
That would be an example of ... wait a minute ... the word's on the tip of my tongue here ... oh right! ... censorship.
free as in beer? (Score:2)
I think the problem here, within the paradigm you establish, is that MS is playing to the ridiculous system in which the moral police threaten free speech.
These financial sanctions of which you speak are precisely what block free speech.
Your argument is that this permits free speech because it permits them to say what they want. But in so doing, it stops them from saying what they want.
The MS system here simply reinforces the paradigm, and makes money off of it too. It in no way permits or encourages fre
Re: (Score:2)
I knew it! Thanks for confirming it.
Harry Enfield... (Score:4, Interesting)
Reminds me of this clip from Harry Enfield:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmRTUNh1vPo [youtube.com]
[For those hard of flashing, it's a parody of a short gangster conversation in which the bad words have been taped over with better words]
Mother smiling gumdrops! (Score:3, Funny)
Why stop there? Make it knowledge. (Score:2)
If you have 'forbidden knowledge' in a document, it goes poof with no recourse on your part..
Oh, and it notifies the local authorities.
Coool a way to keep a secret.... (Score:2)
... just curse your ass off when you tell it...
And I'm sure this will work wonders for actors and other celebrities against the paparatzies...
Mother@*&$%#! (Score:3, Funny)
Censorship patents = less censorship (Score:2)
When censorship is expensive, companies will be less likely to implement it.
Re: (Score:2)
I can see it now: (Score:2)
For anyone who ever tried to have fun choosing a hotmail name:
"[censored] [censored] threw a chair because he hated Google."
or
"[censored] [censored] resigned as CEO of Microsoft."
Or of course, anyone who's heard voice chat during a Halo match:
[censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] you [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] in the [censored] [censored] [censored] with [censored] spoonfuls [censored] Lucky Charms [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] with a [censored] cra
Bad title (Score:2)
Obligatory Penny Arcade (Score:2)
Your mom is a classy lady! [penny-arcade.com]
Sunny (Score:3, Funny)
I...love...Windows Vista. It is a piece of...brilliance. I want to take a sledge hammer and ... gently caress ... it to turn it into a pile of ... sunshine.
Who watches the watcher? (Score:4, Insightful)
It'll be interesting to see just how such technology will be abused. Want to prevent speech that might inspire someone to stand up and do something regarding a certain topic, simply filter out keywords in context to the topic itself to help tilt the topic to favor one group's interests over another.
"Free" speech is long dead and buried. Welcome to the next China.