from Hacker News

Apple Tech Would Stop iPhones From Filming Live Events

by minalecs on 6/16/11, 5:23 PM with 8 comments

• by mikecane on 6/16/11, 5:40 PM

  Listen, concerts and live events are the least of it.

  What if the cops have this tech installed in their cars and prevent you from filming them in action?

• by misuse-permit on 6/16/11, 5:30 PM

  And they're filing a patent?

  So let me get this straight. Mr Band holds a venue and pays to install Apple's patented film-blocking technology. Then, all of the loyal Apple customers who paid good money for their phones get a feature disabled at the concert. Meanwhile, Joe who bought a cheap Samsung phone can go on recording the event because his phone doesn't have some crappy Apple-patented technology in it.

  Or is the idea that when I go to a big name concert, they'll confiscate all the phones that aren't made by Apple?

  Either way, the idea, if reported by Fox correctly, is stupid and does not make any sense.

• by BigZaphod on 6/16/11, 6:14 PM

  This is only a patent. This is not a feature of a shipping product. Hopefully it never will be.

  Apple patents anything and everything and a ton of them are never really used. Optimistically, perhaps they grabbed this idea solely to prevent anyone else from doing it. By having a patent, they can refuse to license the idea to anyone and go after anyone who tries it anyway. You never know.

• by jentulman on 6/16/11, 6:10 PM

  There was an earlier post about this here... http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2660794 with a different initial reporting source. I put a link to the patent that might be concerned in my comment on that thread.

• by teilo on 6/16/11, 11:05 PM

  Which means that hardcore bootleggers, as always, will spend their money on the hardware that works best for them.