[opendtv] Re: Philips' invention blocks DVRs, set-tops from skipping TV ads


Jeroen Stessen wrote:
 > Judging from the angry reactions, it is already backfiring.  :-(
 > But that is to be expected. ANY measures for content management are not
 > going to be appreciated by the public, who want everything to be free.
 > I suppose that deep in our heart we are all communists ?

I suppose most of us believe in the concept of ownership of private 
property.  To me that establishes a useful set of protocols so we don't 
have to argue as much over the disposition and use of all the objects in 
the world.  For the most part, the owner of a property gets to choose 
what happens to the object.  That is all simple and good.  I have little 
problems with that.

The problem comes when a commodity can be freely or cheaply duplicated, 
like can be done with ideas and information.  If property ownership laws 
are used to keep this commodity in artificially short supply then you 
might question whether total ownership laws applied to information are 
really beneficial to society.  That is, do the benefits of giving folks 
incentive to create new property really exceed the collective social 
benefits of allowing the ideas or information to be duplicated and 
distributed?

Where do we draw the line?  And am I a communist for even considering this?

- Tom







> Hi, 
> Bert Manfredi: 
> 
>>So it was a Philips-USA invention. It wasn't anyone smoking illegal
>>substances in Eindhoven after all.
> 
> 
> No, if you read the patent: 
> 
> United States Patent Application        20060070095 A1 
> Newton; Philip Steven ;   et al.        March 30, 2006 
> Apparatus and method for preventing switching from a channel during an 
> advertisement display 
> Inventors: Newton; Philip Steven; (Eindhoven, NL) ; Kelly; Declan Patrick; 
> (Eindhoven, NL) 
> Correspondence Name and Address: 
>     PHILIPS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & STANDARDS
>     P.O. BOX 3001
>     BRIARCLIFF MANOR
>     NY 10510 US
> 
> It is (or was ?) customary to file US patents from the Briarcliff address. 
> 
> The original European patent is from 2 years ago: 
>   WO-2004054259 A1   Publ. date: 2004-06-24 
> 
> 
> 
> This news made a headline on the front page of last Friday's local 
> newspaper, coincidentally the same day that I've met our CEO in person. 
> I thought it better not to bring up the subject...  Anyway, I have yet 
> to meet anyone who does not see this as a (bad) joke. So relax... 
> 
> 
>>Possibly, broadcasters could lobby the FCC or Congress to make this
>>function mandatory in new TV appliances. Because, again, I can't imagine
>>why consumers would possibly demand products with such features.
> 
> 
> Thing is, if anybody ever wants this, they gotta pay us for the invention. 
> 
> But IMO it's 99% likely that nobody is ever going to implement this. 
> 
> 
>>If word gets around, it could backfire. What if confused consumers think
>>this stuff is already built into Philips sets?
> 
> 
> Judging from the angry reactions, it is already backfiring.  :-( 
> But that is to be expected. ANY measures for content management are not 
> going to be appreciated by the public, who want everything to be free. 
> I suppose that deep in our heart we are all communists ? 
> 
> Best regards, 
> -- Jeroen
> 
> +-------------------------------+------------------------------------------+
> | From:     Jeroen H. Stessen   | E-mail:  Jeroen.Stessen@xxxxxxxxxxx |
> | Building: SFJ-5.22 Eindhoven  | Deptmt.: Philips Applied Technologies |
> | Phone:    ++31.40.2732739     | Visiting & mail address: Glaslaan 2 |
> | Mobile:   ++31.6.44680021     | NL 5616 LW Eindhoven, the Netherlands |
> | Skype:  callto:jeroen.stessen | Website: http://www.apptech.philips.com/ 
> |
> +-------------------------------+------------------------------------------+
> 
> 
>  
>  
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