IBM Files DVD Spam Patent Application

An anonymous reader writes "Mark Wilson of Gizmodo.com reports that IBM is applying for a patent for DVDs that contain or download 'on demand' commercials that cannot be skipped. Consumers would be able to purchase these DVDs at a lower price than regular DVDs and pay extra to enjoy their purchase ad-free without having to buy a second DVD. Perhaps this is part of the massive shift in advertising that IBM predicts."

If you're the type to back up your discs...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure DVD Shrink can fix this problem.

Discounted?!

[Seumas]

Setting aside the fact that what this will really wind up with is not a discounted ad-supported DVD, but a $30 ad-supported DVD and an *INCREASED* $35 or $40 commercial-free DVD -- why would I want to pay for something that has ANY ads?

If you're going to cram it full of advertising, why aren't you giving it to me for FREE? Making me PAY for it to come with advertising is a good way to convince me to go get it sans-advertising entirely free online.

Specifying "DVD" seems foolish

[iainl]

If I remember Patent 101 correctly, your patent is specifically limited to the claims you make.

So this one only covers Digital Versatile Discs. Not HD-DVD, not BluRay, not any theoretical third HD media format.

Hands up, everyone who wants to go out and buy a whole new DVD player, because you don't already have one in the house? Really?

Sure, do it!

[DigitAl56K]

Get the disc at a discount, run AnyDVD, sounds good to me!

Re:And I predict that any advertising that ....

[Asic Eng]

Why are you sure it would fail? People already put up with non-skipable sections of their DVDs, why wouldn't they swallow this, too? You may try to avoid the company which shows the ad, but you don't matter - you are a part of a tiny group who cares about this issue.

[...] it would be pretty simple to set up the local network in a way that redirects all download attempts to a local server which just gives out 0-second spots or something.

Which is easy to prevent by further limitations of your rights - if you have administrator access to your own network, and want to control the hardware you bought, you must have something criminal in mind, right? By preventing the company from shoving misinformation down your throat, you are breaking the license agreement of the movie you are watching - in other words, you are stealing from the company. Based on that it shouldn't be too hard to lobby for a law which takes your adminstrator access away. Think people will care? Remember: the DVD is cheaper this way.

Re:And I predict that any advertising that ....

[NickFortune]

Why are you sure it would fail? People already put up with non-skipable sections of their DVDs, why wouldn't they swallow this, too?

Because people are starting to realise that they don't have to put up with all those ads? DVRs, adblock software, pirate content... I think people are starting to get a sense of how much they're being advertised at - and I think there's growing resentment at the amount of time ads waste, and at the overly intrusive and manipulative nature of their content.

you are a part of a tiny group who cares about this issue.

Could be. Or, he could be at the forefront of a tidal wave in public opinion.

By preventing the company from shoving misinformation down your throat, you are breaking the license agreement of the movie you are watching - in other words, you are stealing from the company.

They're infringing corporate copyright (let's use the correct terminology here) when they download pirate copies, too. Oddly enough it doesn't seem to discourage very many people.

Based on that it shouldn't be too hard to lobby for a law which takes your adminstrator access away.

What? You want a low to stop me having admin rights on my own computer because the guy next door might do something to eat into the profits of MGM or Paramount? Lots of luck with that one. Let's face it, if anyone thought that might work they'd have tried it to shut down bittorrent.

Remember: the DVD is cheaper this way.

Nah. The DVD costs as much as the market will bear. The cost of the disk in no way reflects the manufacturing costs, and the content has for the most part either been paid for by the box office takings, or else it's been written off. If it's enough of a commercial proposition to make it worth stocking on shelves in meatspace stores, then the chances are it's the former case.

They might drop the cost of the ad supported DVDs in the sort term to try and encourage adoption, but once the format approaches universal adoption, I can't see any reason why the prices wouldn't wind up about the same in the long run.

Re:my predictions

[Dachannien]

I'll counter your prediction with a gem of my own:

There won't be any ad-free DVDs. At least, not legal ones.

Re:And I predict that any advertising that ....

[CastrTroy]

Exactly. I wouldn't mind watching ads on TV if every other ad wasn't another stupid tampon commercial, or wasn't completely terrible. If they actually put thought into advertisements, made them interesting to watch, and actually informed you about the product, instead of just trying to con you into buying their products, there would be a lot less people trying to not watch the commercials.

what im really hoping for out of this

[EdelFactor19]

that ibm will demonstrate social responsibility again and make license fees so high for this that no one bothers to license it and we dont lose the ability to skip over a commercial in a dvd.

i dont buy dvds in general (save for absolute favorites office space, three amigos, band of brothers and the matrix 10 dvd set.. ) , but if i did and was forced to watch a commercial everytime i played the thing I'd be rather annoyed.

Next thing you know theyll start interjecting dvds with commercial interruptions that you cant skip..

Re:Where do I sign up?

[ajs318]

At least in the UK, the business model for television is moving to subscription eor advertisements. If you subscribe to Sky Television and get only the basic box, then you have to pay a subscription and you get advertisements interrupting everything except BBC.

If you subscribe to Sky Plus (or Sky HD -- the HD box includes Sky Plus functionality), you get a "recording" box. This allows you to pause and rewind (as far as the last channel change) live TV. If you change channels on time for the beginning of a programme, leave it for ten minutes or so (= the total length of all advert breaks in the programme) and then rewind to the beginning, you can simply fast-forward through the advert breaks. The box even has twin receivers, so you can watch one channel while recording another (the polarisation issue is dealt with in the crudest yet most effective way possible, i.e. the Sky Plus box requires an LNB with two independent outputs) or even record two channels while watching one of them.

Advert-free viewing is the reason to get Sky Plus.