Apple patents on-the-fly censorship technology

Apple recently patented a software system that can automatically detect and remove swear words from streamed audio tracks. The patent, dubbed "Management, Replacement and Removal of Explicit Lyrics during Audio Playback" scans a piece of music, compares the lyrics against a database of banned words, marks any explicit bits it finds and then removes the offending content, replacing it with either a beep or silence. The technology can also, according to its patent filing, detect the background music and boost that to cover what's being censored. The system isn't limited to music, mind you, it can just as easily be applied to audio books. As with many of Apple's patents, there is no word on when -- or even if -- the technology will ever make it into an actual product.