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Patents

Pop Up Ads in Space 393

Posted by CmdrTaco from the the-last-untapped-advertising-canvas dept.
modder writes "A Russian inventor has patented ads in space. Shouldn't this violate some sort of International Space Law?" Remember the first time your dad took you out at 1am into the backyard with a telescope? With Your kids the conversation will be something like "Follow the Swoosh to Arcturus, Drive a Spike to the AT&T Logo"
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Pop Up Ads in Space More

Pop Up Ads in Space

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  • When will it stop? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by grub ( 11606 ) <slashdot@grub.net> on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:30AM (#8531213) Homepage Journal

    Wait for the first "Want your willie to be THIS BIG??" spam stretching for hundreds of kilometers across the horizon.

    Jokes aside, why do people put up with intrusive advertising as a given? How much of your money spent on a 1 litre soft drink goes directly towards advertising the product back to you? I read some time ago that "big 3" North American automakers spend approximately US$1500 (averaged) on advertising for each vehicle sold.

    Ultimately you foot the bill & suffer with the barrage of adverts, they reap the sales & expense write offs.

    • Re:When will it stop? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by stratjakt ( 596332 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:47AM (#8531393) Journal
      Most of those "advertising" dollars are spent sponsoring things like sporting events, theatre, live concerts, etc..

      Almost every major venue has a corporate sponsor these days. Staples Arena, 1st Mariner Arena, Air Canada Center, Ford Center for the Performing Arts, etc.. Because, by themselves, these arena's arent profitable.

      Noone could afford to race Nascar if not for those company decals plastered all over the cars.

      So the big corporations write it off as marketing dollars, we get our big stadiums and events.. They also pay for our free-to-air TV and radio (which is a relatively small amount of their advertising budgets).

      • Re:When will it stop? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by enosys ( 705759 )
        And why should I be forced to pay for stuff I don't want? I don't care about free-to-air TV and most radio, I don't care about Nascar, and I don't care about most professional sports. It's almost like a tax, except it's imposed by corporations and not the government.

        • Re:When will it stop? (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Xawen ( 514418 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @10:08AM (#8531562)
          With the notable exception that you can opt-out of this so called "tax" by simply not purchasing the product. I'd like to see you try that with a real tax. The advertising, the events, and the additional cost are more like by-products. As with anything else, if you are opposed to the by-product, you cease use of whatever creates it.

          • Re:When will it stop? (Score:2, Insightful)

            by enosys ( 705759 )
            You can't always opt-out of advertising. There may be good reasons why you want to buy a particular product and not a competing one. In some cases you can't even find an unadvertised competing product.

            Of course you can opt-out by not buying but that's not really a solution if you want it, and BTW you can "opt-out" of sales tax the same way (by not buying stuff).

        • Re:When will it stop? (Score:5, Insightful)

          by ThosLives ( 686517 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @10:12AM (#8531594) Journal
          This is the same difficult issue as "Why should I pay taxes? Why should I pay insurance when I've never needed to use it? Why should I pay an 'activity fee' at my university when I don't use most of the activities for which it goes?"

          It's kind of a collective effect thing, where some would argue that everyone paying a little bit benefits society as a whole even if there are some individuals who don't "get" anything for their expense. It's more an argument, I think, of selfish versus collective thinking. Granted, this is decidedly UnAmerican(TM).

          That said, of course, the idea of ads in space (where I have no choice to not see them!) or "McDonald's on the moon" makes me want to vomit.

    • In Corporate America you see Space in Ads...

      ----------
      Join orkut /. community!!. It's community, not communism!

    • Re:When will it stop? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by isorox ( 205688 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:49AM (#8531407) Homepage Journal
      Fine, start a company that doesn't advertise. You'll be able to sell your product much cheaper.

      • Re:When will it stop? (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Fnkmaster ( 89084 )
        Right, and you'll surely sell a whole lot of them. Unfortunately, my experience with consumer products is that it takes a combination of word-of-mouth endorsement and advertising to get a product in front of people. And some products, by their nature, are more likely to benefit from pure word-of-mouth. Nonetheless, the fact is that people don't buy stuff they don't know about and that will continue to drive the market for new and creative ways to advertise products.

        That being said, I think these kinds

      • Re:When will it stop? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Logic Bomb ( 122875 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @11:32AM (#8532550)
        I'm pretty sure your comment was meant sarcastically, but haven't you ever heard of generic versions? Go to a supermarket, any supermarket, but especially one that's not in the wealthiest part of town. Find a brand-name product like Oreos or Fruit Loops or Tylenol or anything else lots of people know about and purchase. How many alternative versions are on the shelf, for a little bit cheaper? You probably don't recognize the names of any of those other manufacturers. Yet the stuff sells fine.

        • Re:When will it stop? (Score:3, Insightful)

          by kfg ( 145172 )
          I've just been through my kitchen. There is not one advertised food item in it. Not one.

          With the exception of my Sharp Microwave (acquired used) none of its major fittings are advertised either. I have some Calphalon, bought at discount, and some Pyrex(tm).

          Ok, looking through my clothes closet, my shoes are advertised, but I decided to buy them in the store previously unaware that the brand existed. They looked nice. They felt good. They were on sale.

          My furniture. All used/antique, or handmade. No Ikea,
        • But these products are heavily advertised too.

          There's a lucrative living to be made in business-to-business advertising. Billions of dollars are spent every year on telemarketing, direct mail, and trade shows to sell products that aren't directly consumer-advertised products.

          Generic brands fit into this, too. Generic-brand companies compete for corporate agreements with supermarkets to sell their own 'no name' cereals, cookies, baking goods, etc. *Many* dollars are spent send reps to the four corners of

      • Re:When will it stop? (Score:3, Informative)

        by DoorFrame ( 22108 )
        I love my No-Ad [no-ad.com] suntan lotion. It's cheaper, you get a huge bottle, it doesn't smell weird, and it works great.

        "Since 1960, NO-AD, as in "not advertised," has succeeded in providing high quality suncare products at a fraction of the cost of other advertised brands. Rather than promoting the NO-AD line of products through expensive advertising campaigns or glitzy beauty pageants, we'd rather pass the savings directly onto you, our valued customer. This is what we call ~ "the NO-AD concept" -from their sit

    • It won't. Americans need it. (Score:4, Funny)

      by MotherInferior ( 698543 ) * on Thursday March 11, 2004 @10:33AM (#8531809)

      Americans, by and large, have bought hook-line-and-sinker the idea of perceived value. With an entire nation of walking Gap ads, chatting up their "peeps" on a Nokia cell-shackle, how else can you arbitrate but with quality of marketing?

      Trendster: Check it, Kiki. I got me an nGage.

      Kiki: Eeew.

      Trendster: Whatever.

      [two weeks later]

      Trendster: Yo, Kiki. I got me an iPod.

      Kiki: Marry me.

      Trendster: Solid.

    • I remember a story similar to this, and I may have even read it here on /. but I am not sure. About Butterflies wings being colored to look like company logos. Genetics breakthroughs are being used to do productive things at least. Can you imagine going to the zoo and seeing a huge grizly bear that has red fur and a coca cola logo on the side of it?
  • Shouldn't this violate some sort of International Space Law [unvienna.org]?

    Not that I can see, but the search feature [unvienna.org] was broken when I looked. I did browse around and find this:


    The treaties control space-related activities of States. What about non-governmental entities active in outer space, like companies and even individuals?

    The Outer Space Treaty states that States Parties shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried out by governmental agencies or non-governmental entities, and for assuring that national activities are carried out in conformity with the provisions set forth in the treaty. The Treaty further states that the activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party.

    Seems to refute the assertion, until other information can be found.

    Even if it were some sort of violation of International Space Law, why would a patent violate that? Describing and protecting a method should not be a violation of a law, actually doing it should be a violation of the law.

    Note: the views of some storm-troopers may differ from mine :)

    • Re:I may be missing the legal point. (Score:5, Informative)

      by PMuse ( 320639 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @10:07AM (#8531550)
      Shouldn't this violate some sort of International Space Law?

      Whether launching one would violate any law or not, the existence of this patent is a good thing. Why, you ask? Because the patent (1) allows him to prevent other people from launching one and (2) doesn't give him any license to launch one himself.

      Patents are a right to exclude others, not a right for you to practice.
      • This brings up an interesting question -- can you get a patent for a device/process that's clearly illegal under federal law?

        For example, say someone applied for a patent on a method for manufacturing crack cocaine. Does submitting the application constitute a violation of the law in and of itself, or would the application simply be denied? Or, would it be granted? If it was granted, could the patent holder sue drug dealers for patent infringement?

        Obviously, I don't advise trying this, because no matte

  • No, I don't think so... (Score:5, Funny)

    by HarveyBirdman ( 627248 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:31AM (#8531221) Journal
    To paraphrase Lois Lane, I will *personally* lead the army that wipes space ads out of the sky.

    • Re:No, I don't think so... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by mcharlet ( 601009 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:46AM (#8531380)
      While I agree with you in principle (anyone selling anti-satellite rockets, perchance?) I'd just suggest this: When the first company to take 'advantage' of this advertising strategy announces that they will do so, write them a very polite letter telling them that you will boycott every product they ever produce from now until the cold bitter end if they actually proceed. Tell them that you will then spend sizeable effort convincing friends, neighbours, your children's schoolmates, etc... to forever blacklist that company. Tell them that websites, protests, bad press and tv spots of little children looking up at the sky and saying "Why is pizza hut making it hard to use my christmas present telescope, daddy?" will be forthcoming. Granted, it'll probably take someone to actually do it, and then see massive loss in business before other companies really take notice.
      • I agree with you on this one. If a company were to go ahead with polluting the sky with this garbage, I don't think they could ever do enough to convince me to buy from them again. At least with banner ads and TV ads, we're getting a service in exchange for viewing the ads, and we can opt-out by not going to those Internet sites or TV channels.

  • Prior Art (Score:3, Insightful)

    by G4from128k ( 686170 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:31AM (#8531227)
    I think Pizza Hut has some prior art from 1999 [flatoday.com] on this one unless that Russian was behind the deal.

    • Re:Prior Art (Score:4, Informative)

      by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:47AM (#8531388)
      This is a very different device being claimed here, one that can project light down to earth, not just painting something on a rocket.

      • Re:Prior Art: I know, RTFA (Impracticality?) (Score:4, Insightful)

        by G4from128k ( 686170 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @10:05AM (#8531535)
        This is a very different device being claimed here, one that can project light down to earth, not just painting something on a rocket.

        So true. Mod me Embarassed!

        But now that I look at this, I wonder about its practicality. The mirror constellation will either need some very large mirrors to project sunlight over "intercontinental" distances or only work for small areas at a time. (a flat mirror in GEO would only create about a 200 mile diameter cone of visiblity on Earth)

        Also, he will have a bit of a trade-off on the orbit for the system. LEO will put his satellites in Earth's shadow soon after dark (his sats will compete with dusk and then go dark). LEO is also hit-or-miss on whether the sats are flying over the target audience at exactly dusk (perhaps a resonant orbit would work). GEO provides better light and is stationary above the target audience, but the constellation will need to be much bigger (span hundreds of miles) and the mirrors much bigger to create a visible sign.
        • mirror constellation will either need some very large mirrors

          Which in turn will generate a considerable amount of thrust so it will not stay in one place.

          Classic solar sail.

          In btw, this is feasible as a side effect for a solar sail ship. You make your sail advertise pepsi and get some dosh towards launch costs. Considering that solar sails are more then 17 years away (life of the patent) I do not see anything to worry about.

  • They've Come A Long Way (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Naked Chef ( 626614 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:31AM (#8531228)
    From communism to advertisements in space :) Still a sad commentary on capitalism and society, when not even space is safe from advertisers.

  • Careful Now. (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:31AM (#8531229)
    One foul up and we could all end up being told to "go stick your head in a pig"

  • Prior Art? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Jaywalk ( 94910 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:31AM (#8531231) Homepage
    Can't Chairface Chippendale [thetick.ws] claim prior art on space ads?

  • Just a concept (Score:4, Insightful)

    by IamGarageGuy 2 ( 687655 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:32AM (#8531233) Journal
    Let's not get all worked up yet, it's just an idea some wacky russian had.

  • As if there weren't already enough evidence... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Denyer ( 717613 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:32AM (#8531240)
    ...that Matt Groening was a prophet. *shakes head sadly*

    I wonder to what extent the patent is attributable to the numerous examples of this kind of behaviour in traditional science-fiction and popular media such as Futurama?

  • Correction (Score:4, Informative)

    by Operating Thetan ( 754308 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:32AM (#8531243) Journal
    He hasn't patented the idea of adverts in space, as the precis suggests, he's patented a device for displaying them. A fairly important distinction

    • Re:Correction (Score:3, Informative)

      by scrytch ( 9198 )
      > He hasn't patented the idea of adverts in space, as the precis suggests, he's patented a device for displaying them. A fairly important distinction

      Not really. Patents of this kind are granted to a description of an actual device, not an idea. One doesn't actually need to produce the device itself, and indeed some people have managed to sneak some ridiculous ideas through, including a few faster-than-light communication device patents and probably a perpetual motion machine or two (the patent office

  • Little Dipper... (Score:4, Funny)

    by NemosomeN ( 670035 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:32AM (#8531245) Journal
    By Pampered Chef, only $19.99.

  • A giant DLP monitor? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Phoenix-kun ( 458418 ) * on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:32AM (#8531246) Homepage
    The article says it would use solar reflectors mounted on satellites to create the messages. In other words, each reflector could be considered a pixel in the display. I suppose it could work sort of like a giant DLP monitor [dlp.com]. Now we just need a giant color wheel that could double as a space station.
  • Did he just point to a Coke can and say "Like this, but big!"

  • The Ferengi's got there first... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Haven't you heard of a Ferengi Emporium class porn server relay station before?

  • Prior art already exists (Score:5, Informative)

    by BadDoggie ( 145310 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:34AM (#8531269) Homepage Journal
    Various forms of space art [spaceart.net] have already explored the concepts and while they haven't used them specifically advertise, they already use reflectivity and the blackness of space outside the atmosphere so that the works can be seen.

  • The Man Who Sold The Moon (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Metryq ( 716104 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:34AM (#8531270)
    This sounds like the "carbon powder rocket to the moon" perversity mentioned in Heinlein's "The Man Who Sold The Moon." I can imagine some companies running more discreet ads that they paid to keep the skies clear.

  • Reagan was right. (Score:5, Funny)

    by S3D ( 745318 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:34AM (#8531273)
    Antisatellite weapon have some uses.

  • Will This Really Be Useful? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jrduncans ( 715704 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:34AM (#8531274) Homepage
    "People would be able to see writing in the skies from the Earth no worse than they see the stars," he said.

    I know I can barely see the stars at all in the city. Is this only going to work to advertise to rural areas?

  • following immediately: (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Fine, I'm filing the provisional patent application for space based laser to be used to block these pop-up adds. There is no property law that applies to space. Therefore, if he put's an ad up there we should blow it up.
  • Here's an image [demon.co.uk] of the Crab Nebula supernova. It was invoked as part of an ad campaign for Jerry Bruckheimer's "Armageddon". A pretty big pop-up if you ask me
    • the Crab Nebula supernova... invoked as part of an ad campaign for Jerry Bruckheimer's "Armageddon".

      Why am I not surprised that Jerry Bruckheimer would use a totally unrelated phenomena to plug his movie about an asteroid bearing down on earth? This is the guy whose Japanese fleet was sailing along with nuclear subs for escort before the attack in Pearl Harbor... Criminy.

  • Throw that system up there! I can't wait to hack THAT Jumbotron and put MY message across the whole sky!

  • Great! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bones3D_mac ( 324952 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:36AM (#8531291)
    Now AT&T can have finally have a Death Star circling the planet!

  • Perhaps this guy was hoping the patent examiners hadn't read too much science fiction but couldn't ``Buy Jupiter'' by Asimov count as prior art?

    :-)

  • I mean, we're nerds, isnt it? Nerds just dont go much outside. And now they call that "News for nerds" !? Sheesh!

  • Letter to the Human Race: (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:37AM (#8531303)
    Last night, I walked outside for a bit because it was such a beautiful evening (night). I looked up into the sky and just froze for about 10 minutes. The starlit night sky was just breathtaking and I couldn't help myself from just staring up and my flesh was acrawl with goosebumps. The ultimate humbling experience. For a moment, I left the confinds of my earthly hell and felt at peace amongst the bright pinpoints of light.
    I get enough of the human race here on earth, let me have the sky as my own sanctuary, please keep your popup ads to yourselves.

  • Even if (Score:5, Insightful)

    by CGP314 ( 672613 ) <CGP@ColinGregor y P a l mer.net> on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:38AM (#8531306) Homepage
    Shouldn't this violate some sort of International Space Law?

    Even if if didn't violate a law, there are some things so repugnant that they shouldn't be done.

    -Colin [colingregorypalmer.net]

  • Geeks in Space? (Score:5, Informative)

    by TwistedGreen ( 80055 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:39AM (#8531317)
    What does this have to do with Geeks in Space [slashdot.org], the long-dormant Slashdot radio show?

    This is miscategorized! And here you got my hopes up that there would be a new episode after all these years...

  • Prior art (Score:2, Informative)

    by farnerup ( 608326 )
    Zorglub [lamarihuana.com] did this already in 1961, although with limited success. [lycos.fr]
  • Plenty of prior art in Science Fiction, for the general problem; this guy could only patent a technique, not the general idea.

    One of the best ones I saw was a short-short by, I think, Arthur C Clarke, which obviously dates from the Cold War days. General panic in Washington when the Soviet Union manages to paint the moon Red, displaying the power of Communist technology. Don't worry, say NASA. A few daya later, the Coca-Cola "swirl" appears across it, displaying the power of Capitalist technology.

  • IANAL (Score:3, Interesting)

    by smoondog ( 85133 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:42AM (#8531342)
    Shouldn't this violate some sort of International Space Law?

    Maybe I'm wrong but I think it is permitted to have patent protection on an illegal invention.

    -Sean

  • You'll get used to it. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by brejc8 ( 223089 ) * on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:43AM (#8531355) Homepage Journal
    I remember some friends describing a trip to the then USSR and saying that Moscow is very dull and gray but they couldnt put their finger on why. They eventually realised that there was no advertising. More recently when they saw some footage of some Moscow riots there were loads of adverts plastered all over the place they commented how much nicer the place looks with bright colours and lights.

    Im sure we will have the same situation in the future where you go for a holiday in some poorer country and complain that the space just looks balck and boring.

    • I took a vacation to "second-world" country and it was so nice not seeing advertisements. The only ad for a product that I recognized was a sign at the boat filling station stating where the fuel came from.

      Here I've been thinking that if the in-your-face advertising got too bad, I just move to a country like that. If ads in space "fly", I may have to build myself a rocket and move to Mars.

    • TO HELL WITH THAT! (Score:5, Informative)

      by StefanJ ( 88986 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @11:58AM (#8532877) Homepage Journal
      "black and boring?"

      Have you ever SEEN a clear night sky, outside of some light-polluted city or suburb?

      The awe and beauty of the night sky gets washed out by crappy advertising and you tell us "you'll get used to it."

      "The walls of the Grand Canyon were so dull and stone-colored. Now these billboards for s%$tburgers and cheap hotels make it so colorful and exciting!"

      "This unspoiled meadow was so boring. It's SO much livlier now that it's littered with colorful flyers from local chiropractors and 10 minute oil change places!"

      Screw That. F$#k that noise.

      Stefan

  • AT&T logo (Score:2, Funny)

    by aquabat ( 724032 )
    That's no moon! That's a space station!!!

  • Eat at Joes? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by They_Call_Me_Spanky ( 83478 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:43AM (#8531360)
    This would be the equivalent of projecting an advertising image on a natural landmark or such.

    Imagine taking a pic of the family with Niagara Falls or (insert landmark) in the background and having a momento for the rest of your life to 'Drink Coca Cola' hovering above your heads.

    It's visual pollution.
  • We already look up at the night sky and see pictures. This method may have been developed by the ancient Babylonians, but is nevetheless well over 5 thousand years old. Called "constellations" today, any patents that may have existed on how these images told the stories that they did have long since entered the public domain.

  • War (Score:4, Insightful)

    by onyxruby ( 118189 ) * <onyxruby&comcast,net> on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:45AM (#8531375)
    The day some asshat decides to pollute the night sky with a pop up that cant be killed is the day we find out if war can be declared on a company. Several million slashgeeks will figure out a way to shoot this would be obscenity down from earth. Our governments our bound not to destroy each others satelites, but private citizens are not. Especially when they start shooting from international waters.

  • Sealab quote? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Marketing drones - "We've perfected a technology that would allow us to put a giant billboard into space. Picture it, Dick: your advertisement would be seen by everyone in the entire world! Of course, there would be catastrophic tidal waves, but the upside: kids love to surf!"

    Suit - "That would be a choice demographic..."

    Dick - "Gentlemen....surf's up!"

  • One good thing (Score:5, Funny)

    by WormholeFiend ( 674934 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:51AM (#8531421)
    about the Son of Star Wars program favored by GW Bush is that at the very least, it WILL have one use:

    Shooting down space spam.

    (probably not, but it's fun to imagine it)
    1. Once again, evidence supporting the theory that nothing is worthwhile unless it can be tied to either "product" or the military.
    2. Imagine the art one could create.
    3. Imagine the Emergency Broadcast System using this thing - for emergencies at night anyway ;^)
    4. Depends on how he's writing that patent. If he's patenting his system of satellites and sunlight reflectors then someone will get around it. If his patent says something like "A system for displaying light-based content in space...The preferred embodim
    • That's not always the case.

      At Burning Man two years ago, some guys created a sodium-arc laser, and used it to beam messages into space using simple modulation. They had a fairly large booth setup where folks could put in their message, and vote on other messages others had already put in. The messages that got the highest votes were beamed out every night into the sky to a location (constellation) requested by the message author.

      Pointless? Most likely. Cool? Definitely.

      They also took some time to

  • Has to be said... (Score:5, Funny)

    by linuxrunner ( 225041 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:52AM (#8531434)
    It would make one HECK of a Bat Signal!!!

  • Won't bother me (Score:3, Funny)

    by AtariAmarok ( 451306 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @09:53AM (#8531444)
    This won't bother me. I've installed Google atmosphere, which contains space popup blocking.
  • If necessary, this will have to be stopped using the concept of ecological conservation. Every inch of nature's beauty does not need to be crammed with advertisements.
  • So when the German company "Em Wolb" writes that in giant letters readable from earth, or the Japanese cup noodle "Sruoy Pu" produced giant letters on the sky, what will the aliens see? I mean - they see it from the other side, and read it backwards. This is the end of man kind! Prepare to be invaded by furious aliens!
    Aah.. geek humor, and I'm only on my third cup of coffee.
  • You've been mooned since the day you were born. Now, all of a sudden, you're concerned?
  • I remember Bugs Bunny cartoons "Duck Rogers" with Daffy and Porky riding around in space doging space billboards... Perhaps WB should be awarded this patent?
  • I can't shake this mental image of the International Space Station with a giant Drink Coke logo scrawled across the side... (Come to think of it, private funding for such projects isn't such a bad idea: "This launch brought to you by Levitra - if we can get a rocket up, imagine what we can do for you!")
  • They were inflatable mylar structures with a VERY LIMITED lifespan, say, a month tops.

    If someone wants to spend a billion dollars to have a logo a quarter of the size of the moon for a few weeks thats only really visible in rural areas, let them.

    Folks have been chomping at the bit for this kind of stuff for decades. Ever since those big foil sphere satellites in the 60s were visible from earth.

    Pizza Hut is prepared to spend a billion to the Russians for their logo up there, the producers of the Lord of

  • This has been a possibility (Score:3, Insightful)

    by JawFunk ( 722169 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @10:13AM (#8531609)
    This idea has been around for some time, but noone decided to patent it. Considering the many different ways you can link satellites, this is probably not the only patent that could be used for space ads.

    The reason no company has decided to put up ads in space is that it would deface the only untouched place man has in this world, generating bad publicity rather than revenue.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @10:16AM (#8531643)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Obtaining and holding this patent is not necessarily a bad thing. Under the right circumstances, the usual reservations about patents could work to the common good in this case. If the holder is incorruptible and dedicated to the common good, he will simply charge a royalty of (apologies to Dr. Evil) One Hundred Trillion dollars for each instance of use. Presto. That particular mode of advertising has now been precluded, or, what's the worst thing that could happen - someone actually comes up with a $1E

  • Look at it this way.... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by BigGar' ( 411008 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @10:18AM (#8531662) Homepage
    The patent will expire before he's ever able to make it a reality.
  • I'd imagine that the UFO-spotting people could have some fun with this. In particular if there is another message-hacking incident like the one in North Carolina [securityfocus.org] a few weeks ago. Then somebody's base surely would be advertised as being belong to somebody else....

    Still, despite the obvious comical aspects, I'd hate to see this sort of thing come into being, and I expect these people [darksky.org] to agree with me on that.

    --
    (with thanks to subgeek)

  • There was a short sci-fi story about such an idea implemented. It started with astronomers noticing some stars moving a bit too fast, then faster and then stopping, forming an ad for some soap. Eventually the battery in the device run out and the sky was restored. Sadly, I don't remember the name of the story or the author. :(
  • Where is the novelty in this patent? That idea has been around almost as long as rockets and satellites have been part of science fiction.

  • Red Dwarf (Score:3, Funny)

    by waterford0069 ( 580760 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @10:32AM (#8531796) Homepage
    This reminds me of a sub-plot in the _book_ Red Dwarf (as opposed to the TV series) where there was a ship that was sent out into inter-stellar space to make stars go nova, and create a giant, pixelated "Drink Coke" message in the sky.

    This was the ship that Lister and Cat found on an asteroid/moon with Kryten waiting in it (and also the one that Kryten caused to crash by "washing" the computer).

  • Remember When? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by CrazyTalk ( 662055 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @10:39AM (#8531870)
    Adverts were once banned from the internet, as well. Also (at least in the U.S.) there were never any commercials at the beginning of movies shown in a cinema, just coming attractions. There was just too much money to be made. Same applies to Space, or any other forum/medium once its use becomes more mainstream.

  • Bard says (Score:5, Funny)

    by paiute ( 550198 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @10:40AM (#8531881)
    CASSIUS
    The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
    But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

    BRUTUS
    But yonder stars tell me wonderous Enzyte shall make us underlings no longer!

  • Saving Hubble? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by crovira ( 10242 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @11:26AM (#8532462) Homepage
    What a brave new world we live in. With such people's in it.

    When space itself is fair game for Spammers and the only way to see the stars is to be OFF THE F*CKING PLANET.

    At least there's still day-time.

  • Coming Soon (Score:3, Funny)

    by fdiskne1 ( 219834 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @11:30AM (#8532528)
    Turn your Little Dipper into a Big Dipper.

  • Space trash (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Lord_Dweomer ( 648696 ) on Thursday March 11, 2004 @01:19PM (#8533841) Homepage
    Ok, so we all know that trash in space is going to be a growing problem as we continue to reach out to the stars. Will we be able to get laws in place saying you can't litter, and this is considered littering? Or once we've got tons of space stations and every day space travel, is advertising in space going to just become as common as billboards while you drive?

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