According to Arstechnica, Microsoft has just been granted a patent that it filed in 2004, allowing it to censor audio in real-time. The technology is able to recognise phonemes and censor the harsh ones (those used in swear words), making them either “unintelligible or inaudible.”

The Patent description also lists uses beyond that of XBox Live; while it aims to prevent potty mouths there, it can also be used to censor live television, negating the delay broadcasters use now. See the full description, and discuss your opinion, after the jump.

From the Patent Office:

An input audio data stream comprising speech is processed by an automatic censoring filter in either a real-time mode, or a batch mode, producing censored speech that has been altered so that undesired words or phrases are either unintelligible or inaudible. The automatic censoring filter employs a lattice comprising either phonemes and/or words derived from phonemes for comparison against corresponding phonemes or words included in undesired speech data. If the probability that a phoneme or word in the input audio data stream matches a corresponding phoneme or word in the undesired speech data is greater than a probability threshold, the input audio data stream is altered so that the undesired word or a phrase comprising a plurality of such words is unintelligible or inaudible. The censored speech can either be stored or made available to an audience in real-time.

Without going into too much detail on the nuances of expletives, I shall say that I don’t think this solves anything at all. Since when has swearing been about the word itself? While media corporations and the FCC may think this, common sense dictates that the word itself is not what causes offense; it is the context in which it is used. Say, for example, someone on XBox Live made a racist remark and used a certain word to express him/herself (you know the one I’m talking about). Would blocking that word make any difference? No, it would be the reasons behind their use that would be offensive. To me, blocking the word itself solves nothing.

But enough about me, what do you think? Do you agree with the censors that certain words shouldn’t be heard? Do you think this censorship is getting a little too Orwellian? Let us know!

Tags: 1984, censor, Censorship, f-bomb, Microsoft

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1 Comment » DB on October 20, 2008 7:23 pm Gee it’s almost seems like banning would be a bad thing to Microsoft because they would loose money. So they take a lazy short cut way. RSS feed for comments on this post. Comment Now Note: Commenting on Ripten does not currently require registration, however to be eligible for contests on the site, you must be a registered user. Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website Commenting Rules: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Ripten reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. Thanks. Notify me of followup comments Tired of the Goomba? Upload your own custom comment avatar.