NewsCore reports, “Fans at concerts and sports games may soon be stopped from using their iPhones to film the action — as a result of new technology being considered by Apple, The Times of London reported Thursday.”
“A patent application filed by Apple, and obtained by the Times, reveals how the software would work,” NewsCore reports. “If a person were to hold up their iPhone, the device would trigger the attention of infra-red sensors installed at the venue. These sensors would then instruct the iPhone to disable its camera.”
“The software is seen as an attempt to protect the interests of event organizers and television broadcasters who have exclusive rights to film an event,” NewsCore reports. “These companies often sell their own recordings but are frustrated when cell phone videos appear online via websites such as YouTube, allowing people to watch the concert free.”
Full article here.
Yes, it just a patent, but if does ever happen this big brother at it finest. Yet technology works both ways. The criminals causing the riots in Vancouver could use the same technology not to have their picture taking by having the infra-red sensor
But do look for the anti-Apple forces to get hold of this flimsy non-story and go to town with it. I can already see the headlines:
“Apple to disable iPhone cams for live events”
“Jobs in cahoots with event organizers”
Well, that didn’t take long at all!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/13814378
Are you kidding me MDN??? Are you really putting this FUD article on your site? Do you think Apple is that stupid? I cannot believe how gullible you guys are. Apple will NEVER do something like this. iCal me.
The same technology could be used by a government to prevent you from filming protests, massacres and other events thatmight be inconvenient. Chew on that for a season.
I’m not in the habit of buying an event ticket & bringing a date just to hold up a cell phone to captureshittu audio & video.
The entertainment industry knows no limit to it’s greed, narcissism or ham-handedness. Maybe they should research the Grateful Dead who had a massive career and cult following by allowing recording events. Bruce Hornsby played with the Dead and adopted a similar policy that had brought great loyalty to his fan base.
To be truthful, I’m not interested in buying a crippled phone that a third party can disable.
This would be the same Times owned by Rupert Murdoch, whose other interests include rights to broadcast sports and music events, yes?
Non-story.
As long as Jobs is running the show at Apple, this technology will never be implemented. Ever.
you can take away my iPhone as soon as this is implemented … But you can never take my freedom.
Wow! The pile of bunched up panties is getting so high that a pervert could have years of sniffing action.
1. Filing for a patent is a long way from employing the patent. Apple has far more patents than it uses.
2. Imagine the expense of wiring up a stadium to have infrared transmitters everywhere and how easy it would be to block them.
3. There are many legitimate reasons for blocking cameras. Many companies right now don’t allow laptops and phones with cameras. Undoubtedly parts of the federal government as well. It’s called security.
4. Apple would lose sales if concert events ever started becoming video-proof.
Aapple wants to remain in peace with contents providers and make them happy. ButAapple loves consumers even more! I don’t think apple will ever use this tech. Apple ain’t dumb like that.
What a supremely sick and disgusting suggestion! Why stop there?! Why not just arrest those dirty lawbreakers before they even pull their iPhones out of their pockets (à la Minority Report)???!!!
Why would Apple build in a functionality to disable the camera? They want to PROMOTE people using their camera, not disable it. It would ONLY push people away from the iPhone, and there is no benefit to Apple. And it’s not protecting the band, it’s protecting the giant music industry monopolies, who by the way, I doubt are complaining that shaky, poor-sounding YouTube clips are cannibalizing sales.
Yeah, that’s important.
Because I would much rather watch a shaky bootleg video on you tube shot right next to the drunk asshole screaming FREE BIRD
than a professionally produced one
Good thinkin!!!
Dumb idea that won’t happen.
Disabling an IR sensor takes about 10 seconds and a little bit of electrical tape.
As the IR sensor is the camera itself, if you disable it or put tape over it, you won’t see anything !!!
Those asswipes who sell the dvds and cds at concerts charge double what a retail store would. Screw those producers hard and without vaseline, I say.
Secondly we’ve seen the youtube videos, which are crappy sound and picture, hardly good enough to hold my attention.
As technology stands, people holding up mobile devices to capture video is as good as someone recording a mono AM radio station onto a standard low-bias magnetic cassette tape.
This had better not happen as described and feared.
“These sensors would then instruct the iPhone to disable its camera.”
Therefore, my brain would instruct my hands to disable the infrared sensor.
This is hilarious customer abuse, right in line with the RIAA and MPAA‘s mandate for customer hatred and self-destruction.
And they wonder why their industries are losing customer loyalty. DUH Factor.
Wow, this thread has really brought out the crazies and the paranoid… Apple’s motivation is ALWAYS the user, and the user experience, so the idea of suddenly doing a 180 and becoming Evil Big Brother is crazy talk (another name for some forms of Android advocacy…). Any company knows that acting against their users in this draconian way would have them leaving in droves, and Apple is the opposite of stupid. Fandroids are spinning this, just like they spin everything else against Apple, but that just illuminates the choices they have made and the extremes they have to go to, to justify themselves.
It really shows how crap many of todays so called big live bands are if people are more bothered about taking pics or filming bits of the gig for youtube than actually enjoying the gig themselves
How do you know this technology isnt already in ios 5? You wont know until they start using it at gigs. Look what sony did with cinavia
You cant enjoy a gig properly whilst youre concentrating on filming it anyway
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