Apple patents tech that will give companies ability to block pic/video recording

[Krynn72]

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/News/11861/Apple_to_block_iPhone_users_from_recording_live_events_.aspx

Apple is reportedly developing software to prevent fans using their iPhone to record live events such as concerts and sports games.

If successfully integrated into the smartphone, the new technology will work by triggering the infra-red sensors installed at the chosen venue. These sensors will then automatically disable the camera when the user holds up their iPhone to record footage, while other phone features such as texting and making calls remain active.

While they talk about it being used for concerts and shit, it obviously will be available to anybody. I can see shit like this being used in police cars, having a mobile blackout device to prevent cops from being recorded.

 

[Solaris]

Well I for one hate all the ****tards recording every secound of every concert for shitty video.

 

[Ren.182]

Cover the sensor with a bit of tape. Sorted.

 

[Krynn72]

So do I, but do you think giving this ability to companies is the right way to solve that problem?

 

[Stigmata]

How can anyone be an apologist for Orwellian shit like this?

 

[ríomhaire]

Haha wow. Integration of a feature that can only hurt and never benefit the people actually using your product. Amazing.

 

[Vegeta897]

Cover the sensor with a bit of tape. Sorted.

You don't think it's going to be built into the camera? Don't be so naive.

 

[arch5]

This will probably be easy to bypass with a jailbroken iPhone. Somebody out there will get past it.

 

[No Limit]

Seems like a dumb move on apple's part. I don't understand what is in it for them and might put off some people that would other wise go with an iphone.

 

[Vegeta897]

This will probably be easy to bypass with a jailbroken iPhone. Somebody out there will get past it.

Do you really think that's the issue here? Hint: People aren't upset over not being able to record concerts anymore

 

[99.vikram]

This patent is still too raw to tell exactly what the business usecase will be, but knowing the way companies like to enforce DRM, here's how I see this working out:

Apple implements this feature at the request of event organizers, and the videos taken "legally" under this system will be uploaded to a central cloud from where users can easily share it and also get a lot of event related goodies. Apple will definitely give users a massive incentive to use this system, just as they got people hooked to DRM encrusted music back in the iPod days with the convenience of iTunes sync. And the open, less slick ecosystem will be portrayed as second class once again.

OR

Apple works with airlines, government agencies etc. to standardize "video-free" zones, forcing Android and the others to comply.

 

[Stylo]

So what if I wanna take a photo / record a video of me and my mates in the crowd at a concert and not the actual playing going on?

Obviously they have thought this through very well and everyone is gonna be happy with it.

 

[<RJMC>]

told ya steve jobs was a dick

 

[Quixoticism]

I don't understand what is in it for them and might put off some people that would other wise go with an iphone.

Steve Jobs is not a good person. You have to take into account not only the stated intent of this patenting but also all possible uses. Because over time it will seep into all of them.
(read between the lines for possible ulterior motives)
Taking live recordings of concerts is such a minute issue you should be questioning how this is even a legitimate excuse for developing such a restriction. Media control like this, as Krynn said, could easily be used to cover up all sorts of stuff. There is an alarmingly increasing push for media control and hiding the truth and unscrupulous things when there should be complete openness and freedom for such things to be broadcast. Let the truth get out there! Only the guilty need worry about being 'caught on tape'.
Example: Police men carrying out the law while also following it themselves should have nothing to fear if someone were video taping them with a cell phone. With censorship over things like this you wonder what is really going on and who is really being protected here. (Police are here to serve and protect US!)

Anybody with a mind and knowledge of tech with these kinds of limitations would of course stay clear of such devices. Hopefully Apple is as virtuous with this patent as they are with all others so this will be limited to Apple devices only and other phones and media devices will remain under our(the owners) constant control.

 

[Kadayi]

While they talk about it being used for concerts and shit, it obviously will be available to anybody. I can see shit like this being used in police cars, having a mobile blackout device to prevent cops from being recorded.

Yeah forget the concerts etc, it's the broader usage by police and military that troubles me.

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

Exactly, big whoop about recording concerts; they only ever result in a multicolored swirl with unidentifiable audio anyway. There's no way they had this application in mind when cooking up this invention.

 

[Stylo]

Apparently shit quality, blurry and pixelly videos of gigs and sport games is what loses bands and companies massive money these days.

Least Reasonable Excuse For New Technology Of The Week

 

[mindless_moder]

"Cheaper digital cameras and camera phones have less effective filters and can "see" intense near-infrared, appearing as a bright purple-white color. This is especially pronounced when taking pictures of subjects near IR-bright areas (such as near a lamp), where the resulting infrared interference can wash out the image. " - wikipedia (shhh)

This isnt exactly what i would call "new" technology , but i'm sure there was some engineering involved in making a camera that is both fit for recording but also susceptible to this kind of IR blocking.

 

[Krynn72]

Its not so much blinding the camera, as much as it telling the camera to turn off or display an error message.

http://www.neowin.net/news/apple-patent-reveals-infrared-system-for-blocking-camera-recordings

The method used to put an end to shaky cam footage of movies and concerts making their way to video sharing sites is for the device to detect infrared signals in images processed by its camera. The infrared light, which is invisible to human eyes, contains encoded data that is decoded and read. If an image contains encoded data, the device can then either display certain information to the user, or manipulate a function on the phone - including shutting off the camera. If no such encoded data exists, the camera functions as usual.

 

[15357]

At first, I thought "This is awesome!"

Then I read that it was integrated on the part of the phone. :/

Wake me when they make a video blocker that can be used regardless of the configuration on the phone.

 

[Stylo]

Know what? Actually, screw this shit.

I'm in a band and we've played some fairly big gigs in our time.

If it got to a point were we were making a big living off playing, I wouldn't be up for this tech. Firstly, I play music for music's sake because I love it and if someone wants to crack their phone out and record my band playing as a keepsake or to put on YouTube, I would be all for it. Not only is it free promotion for us but hell, why should I take away someone's memory of a gig just because I'm a selfish bastard who wants every piece of footage of me to make me some sort of capital?

No. F*ck that. I'd even do a f*cking pose for the camera if someone really wanted to capture my performance. I'd be happy for them to do so. I doubt it'd have any negative impact at all on the living I made from performing. I'd be more pissed at people torrenting full quality albums and songs recorded on my time and effort than someone filming me on their own damn phone.

The only place something like this would be implemented in a good way is cinemas but even then, who the hell records full-length films for uploading to the net on a phone? You use other recording equipment surely?

This whole thing is a crock of shit, in my opinion. Like people say, all it will end up doing is pissing people off and being used by the government and law to blanket activities they don't want recording.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Haha wow. Integration of a feature that can only hurt and never benefit the people actually using your product. Amazing.

 

[PvtRyan]

Sounds like a dumb plan, but the morons who record concerts with their phones even when asked not to because it's annoying to the audience and the band, only to post their shitty, inaudible videos on Youtube can get fucked in the ass until they bleed to death, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Stylo]

Meh, people continue to use Facebook despite the fact that they keep making it more broken, more confusing and more shite every month.

 

[dfc05]

Meh, people continue to use Facebook despite the fact that they keep making it more broken, more confusing and more shite every month.

Ah, very true. Same with the whole airport body scanner shenanigans.

As for concert recordings, as an audience member I have never minded anyone taking video with their phone. First, because even if it's crappy quality, sometimes it's still nice to be able to watch on youtube and the fact that they share it there is a favor to everyone, band included. The only reason a band would ever lose money off someone's iphone recording is if their live show happens to suck so much that it turns people away, which is the band's fault. Also, considering that most people are constantly talking over the music, seeing someone's phone is really a non-issue.

It also seems stupid to implement when there are a ton of bands that don't care at all about people making and distributing great-quality recordings of their shows, let alone crappy iphone videos.

All that said, it seems that aside from all the external implications, this was probably a deal conceived somewhere in RIAA-major record label-LiveNation land. And since you need two parties with the tech, all the non-shitty venues probably won't have it, so as long as you don't listen to crap music, you should be fine .

[edit] The more I think about it, the more stupid it seems. It's almost so stupid that it becomes suspicious whether the primary purpose was blocking concert recordings. Way to block something that doesn't result in any loss in sales. Who the heck uses an iphone live recording as a replacement for buying a studio recording or, say, listening to one of the many uploads of the studio recording that are probably available on youtube? But then the RIAA is so moronic that it's somewhat conceivable they did help invest in this. Hard to say. Sneaky.

 

[Emporius]

Know what? Actually, screw this shit.

I assume it could turned off at the request of a headlining band, if they had the backing of whoever manages their content.

While I do also have my suspicions about concerts being the only resultant use of the technology (Hello riot blackouts), one also has to remember that is being pre-emptively designed for when the majority of mobile phones will be able to shoot in HD.

 

[Stylo]

The more I think about it, the more stupid it seems. It's almost so stupid that it becomes suspicious whether the primary purpose was blocking concert recordings. Way to block something that doesn't result in any loss in sales. Who the heck uses an iphone live recording as a replacement for buying a studio recording or, say, listening to one of the many uploads of the studio recording that are probably available on youtube? But then the RIAA is so moronic that it's somewhat conceivable they did help invest in this. Hard to say. Sneaky.

Yeah, this is where I'm coming from. It seems like such a daft and unimpacting issue to be using as a primary example for why you would have this tech inside a phone that you just kinda think there has to be some kind of more sinister reasoning behind pushing for the development of this product.

I assume it could turned off at the request of a headlining band, if they had the backing of whoever manages their content.

I guess if you were a big enough band to be bothered with this kind of shizz then, yeah, I suppose you'd have the venue in your pockets really. "If we're gonna play, you can turn that camera phone blocking crap off for a start" kind of thing.

While I do also have my suspicions about concerts being the only resultant use of the technology (Hello riot blackouts), one also has to remember that is being pre-emptively designed for when the majority of mobile phones will be able to shoot in HD.

Ahhh, I was unaware of that fact. That does add a little something more, but still, would people really stop going to live concerts and sports games in favour of going online and trying to find a probably shaky as hell, bad audio quality (the loudness of these kind of things usually doesn't bode well with phone recordings) version of it?

Most of the beauty of going to see stuff live is the atmosphere and well, I think most people take videos not to make any sort of capital from them but just to either say "I was there" or capture a particular moment they see as significant.

It still doesn't make much sense to me as I really can't see how the holders of the rights to the content being recorded are really losing out. The official broadcast / DVD that comes out of an event is always gonna be better than something shot by an amateur phone user in the crowd. Even then, none of that captures the feel of being there which is why people will continue to buy tickets.

 

[Stigmata]

It still doesn't make much sense to me as I really can't see how the holders of the rights to the content being recorded are really losing out. The official broadcast / DVD that comes out of an event is always gonna be better than something shot by an amateur phone user in the crowd. Even then, none of that captures the feel of being there which is why people will continue to buy tickets.

The publishers and talent labels lose out on imagined profits due to a skewed and warped perspective of what piracy is and how it actually affects the sales of reproducible products and live media. Simple as that.

 

[Stylo]

The publishers and talent labels lose out on imagined profits due to a skewed and warped perspective of what piracy is and how it actually affects the sales of reproducible products and live media. Simple as that.

Oh I seeee! Well this changes everything. TO THE PROFITMOBILE!

 

[Stigmata]

Well who do you think is pushing Apple to do this? They love a good paycheck too.