Jason Dunn
04-19-2006, 10:12 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-6062861.html?part=rss&tag=6062861&subj=news' target='_blank'>http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-6062861.html?part=rss&tag=6062861&subj=news</a><br /><br /></div><i>"An invention from Royal Philips Electronics prevents TV viewers from switching the channel during commercials or fast-forwarding past commercials when watching DVR content. Viewers would be released from the freeze only after paying a fee to the broadcaster. The freeze would be implemented on a program-by-program basis, giving viewers a choice at the start of each one. According to a recently published patent, the apparatus could work inside a set-top box. It would use the standard Multimedia Home Platform to receive a first control signal and then respond by taking control of the TV. The MHP would also be capable of sending the payment information that would lift the freeze, as it does when authorizing pay-per-view content. If implemented, the invention would have a significant impact on television culture."</i><br /><br />As a publisher who makes his living primarily from advertising, I definitely understand the need for a revenue model, but as a consumer a technology like this would utterly infuriate me. Perhaps if every TV channel were free I could accept having to watch the ads, but if I'm paying $80 a month to my cable company, sitting through ads isn't an option.