Inventor patents personal TV censor

Inventor Matthew Jarman looks to be out to make the untamed TV landscape a little more palatable for those with sensitive ears, developing an application that'll mute out offensive language based on your potty-mouth tolerance level, or block programs all together if they prove to be unmutable. The system apparently works by monitoring the closed-captioning text that accompanies most television programs, muting the audio whenever it comes across a word you've deemed unsuitable -- seemingly a tricky thing to time properly, especially given the delay usually associated with CC feeds, although Jarman appears to be quite confident in its efficacy. To block entire programs, the system simply relies on program descriptions provided by electronic program guides. While there's no indication when or if the system will actually make it to market, a quick search of the ever-entertaining patent database reveals that some of Jarman's other content-blocking inventions have been licensed by none other than ClearPlay, Inc, which would seem to increase the likelihood that this one may follow suit.

[Via New Scientist]

[BrandonLehman @ Jan 30th 2007 12:43PM]

Honestly, are those all the black listed words you could fit in that reply? I know you can do better than that! :)

[pbase @ Jan 30th 2007 5:52AM]

I've seen so many typos on the CC system, that I think there's no fcukink way this fcuking piece of siht is ever going to work.

[grug @ Jan 30th 2007 6:13AM]

Sounds like he invented something that already exists.

The TVGuardian has been doing this for years, monitoring Closed Captions, muting the audio, and inserting a humorous substitute onscreen.

http://tvguardian.com/gshell.php

[PJK @ Jan 30th 2007 6:13AM]

People don't need tools to prevent them hearing swear words. They need a tool to prevent them from being uptight. They are just words people, they only offend if you let them. They don't kick in your back door and rape your jack russel high on crystal meth, so why are you so afraid of them and not of me?

[granny down east @ Jan 30th 2007 12:48PM]

...because it's people like you that don't care whose ears you offend, that sometimes wind up kicking in the doors.

Just saying. Actually I'm afraid of everybody, that's why I have big dogs instead of jack russell terriers. They are only good for drop-kicking into the next dimension.

[Graham @ Jan 30th 2007 6:14AM]

I'm pretty sure a product doing just this came out several years ago... Only to fail miserably in the marketplace

[010111 @ Jan 30th 2007 6:48AM]

didn't read the article... was it an "off" switch?

i remember reading about those some time ago.

[A @ Jan 30th 2007 9:42AM]

"The children...would somebody PLEASE think of the children!"

[Matt B @ Jan 30th 2007 9:49AM]

Sticks and stones may break my bones BUT WORDS WILL NEVER HURT ME. And they shouldn't hurt anyone else either.

[Bill @ Jan 30th 2007 10:00AM]

You guys crack me up. So it's somehow wrong to have a product that lets me turn off swear words if I don't want to hear them? Why? Because you think swear words are okay? Hahahaha. Because they're "just words"? So do you mean swear words should be acceptable in all conversations, too? They're "just words", right? You remind me of a guy I was talking with one time about pornography. He said hardcore porn should be freely accepted on TV, anytime. He said little kids should be able to see it. After all, he reasoned, it was "just sex" and we don't want them to be ashamed of sex, do we?

This company isn't forcing anyone to buy their product and no one is saying you don't have to listen to swear words. For those who don't want to hear them, this is a product for them. Don't like it? Don't buy it.

[Dan @ Jan 30th 2007 10:12AM]

Once again (2nd time in as many days) , this is not a patent, but a patent application. He hasn't "patented" his idea, he is "attempting to patent" his idea. And his idea goes further than a simple word filter, using context to determine whether the word is used in an offensive way. His example cited is the word bitch, which does have a legitimate usage, but could also be applied to characters named Dick, etc. It also will block shows based on more criteria than just the rating, by title, actor, day, time, channel, etc. It may be that you're fine with kids watching one show that's PG rated but not another, based on your own judgements. This idea allows for that.

As to the claims, a just-published application (that hasn't been seen by an examiner yet) will frequently have very broad claims that will get narrowed based on how the examiner responds. Part of the way things work...no guarantees that he will even get anything he's trying to claim at this point...

[Mathew @ Jan 30th 2007 10:12AM]

Personally I'd much rather see something that can lower the volume on the commercials since networks seem to think it's okay to blast that @#$t out at twice the volume, which gets quite irritating after a while. If someone could do this I wouldn't have to mute my receiver every batch of commercials... As for the above invention, who @!#$ing needs it? :)

[Bill @ Jan 30th 2007 10:12AM]

Ha! I just replied again asking if racial slurs were okay too since they're just words and Engadget wouldn't even accept my post with the "N word" in it. Should I cry censorship? I guess I'll have to mask it.

If swear words are "just words", how about racial slurs? Can people call black people "n*gg*rs"? Watch me get flamed for even quoting that. But "f*** you motherf****** a**hole" is okay, right? Just words. Why? Because you want the freedom to say what you want whenever you want without guilt, so you justify it to make yourself feel better.

[dc @ Jan 30th 2007 11:05AM]

I agree with Bill and go one step further. You can say God Da** or Jesus fckn Christ in movies but you cannot say Damn Muhammad or Allah fckn Muhammad. It doesnt sound like tolerance to me. The muslims would blow up holywood if they ever did. The God of Christianity is the ONLY God that is used in cursing. So what if people want to creat a device to block curse words like these because it offends them. If someone says Jesus on tv, that offends many people and there is a big OUTCRY. Why cater to a small group of wicked people that like to curse and swim in it. You don't have to buy the box just like we do not have to buy pornography. You can't have it both ways you liberals. You like to say that we push our views on you, but you have no problem pushing your liberal anything goes views on us. The problem is that you cannot live up to your own tolerance standards.

[Brian @ Jan 30th 2007 11:13AM]

Man, some people are sheltered.

[Trent @ Jan 30th 2007 12:17PM]

I deem this technology "Fundieware!"

[Brent @ Jan 30th 2007 12:59PM]

Yes, TV Guardian has been doing pretty much the same thing for a long time. I've had one for about five years now. In some cases it tries to read the context, but doesn't do a very good job, and yes, the alternative text it displays is usually amusing.

[Foamator @ Jan 30th 2007 4:46PM]

Woah... they'd have a million uses for this thing in China. They could change the filters so that almost any word is censored! Yay for censorship!

[Keyth Halloween @ Jan 31st 2007 10:51AM]

My overly-protective sister has one of these sorts of devices hooked to her TV to keep her kids from hearing things that might corrupt their ears. It picks up the closed captioning, and then when a bad word or sexual situation is mentioned, it cuts off the audio and replaces the undesirable word (or words) with a more family-friendly variation.

For example: The original show has House saying, "Aw, kiss my ass!", but what you hear/see on the TV Nanny is "Aw, kiss my..." [audio goes out and the word "rear" appears in the CC bar.]

Another example: The show has someone say, "I want to bang her all night long" but the device alters it to: "I want to..." [make love her all night long]

It's pretty fricking lame. `As if the kids don't know what they're really saying on the TV, anyway!

I waiting for an upgraded model, that changes all exclamations and references to other religions to Christian versions. You know, like in Clash of the Titans: "Almighty Zeus! Hear me!" would get changed to "Almighty..." [God hear me!] and "Holy crap!" would get changed to [In the name of Jesus!]

This stuff is such crap. I resent it when people attempt to shelter their kids from the real world. They're just words. Deal with it.