| Author | Message | ||
     Pwnzor |
...and just in time, too. Bad parenting was just starting to catch people's attention, but now, thanks to the mighty Apple, slacker parents can go back to popping pills and letting the housekeeper raise the kids. Apple patents 'anti-sexting' technology John D. Sutter By John D. Sutter, CNN October 13, 2010 10:54 a.m. EDT | Filed under: Mobile An Apple patent shows how an anti-sexting application might block messages on the iPhone. STORY HIGHLIGHTS * Apple patents technology to block sexually explicit text messages * The text application could also be used to promote proper grammar and education (CNN) -- Apple has patented technology that could be used by parents to prevent their kids from sending sexually explicit text messages -- or "sexting." The technology, which has not been commercialized, would let a phone's administrator block an iPhone from sending or receiving texts with certain words. Messages containing blocked material either would not be received or would have the objectionable content redacted. Unlike other text blockers, Apple's version would also be able to filter content based on a child's grade level and claims to filter abbreviated words that maybe missed by other programs. The patent, awarded Tuesday, does not address the sending or receiving of explicit images. The U.S. patent, which Apple filed for in January 2008, could also turn these filters into educational tools, according to the patent document. Parents of kids who are studying Spanish, for example, could be required to send a certain number of messages per month in that language, according to the document. If kids did not meet the foreign language quota, their texting privileges could be automatically revoked until they send more Spanish-language text messages. Grammarians may cheer this innovation. The texting interface also could prod kids towards better grammar, requiring them to identify and fix spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes before sending a message. So maybe the Apple texting tool will be the end of LOL-speak. Apple says old methods of monitoring and controlling text communications on phones have largely failed. Allowing kids to communicate only with a pre-set list of phone numbers or e-mail addresses is limiting, the patent document says, and does not address the content of the mobile phone communications, which Apple says is more important. Other methods of filtering only block certain expletives, Apple says, instead of trying to recognize the overall offensiveness of a message and comparing that to a kid's age and learning level. The blog TechCrunch asks if the patent will be the end of sexting: "Yes and no," Alexia Tsotsis writes on that blog, "as those interesting in 'sexting' will probably find some clever workaround to express how much they want to bang, screw, hit it or a myriad of other words that don't immediately set off the censorship sensors." The Daily Mail in the UK writes that this anti-sexting news "will be music to the ears of Tiger Woods. Or Ashley Cole, or Vernon Kay for that matter," referring to sexting scandals involving those celebrities. It's unclear exactly how this technology would be incorporated into Apple's iPhone products, but it would appear to work through the phone's built-in text-messaging application. Other texting apps aim to prevent texting while driving and let iPhone users send text messages without incurring charges from AT&T, the mobile carrier that has exclusive rights to the iPhone in the U.S. | ||
| Seanp |
Reminds me of this: | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
I am afraid to say but I do not see this holding much weight. If you go on youtube and watch a how to video of how to do some cool hack to an Iphone or ipod touch it is always a kid giving the instructions, that being said kids will find a way around this and they will put a youtube video up on how to get around it. | ||
| Swordsman |
That filter is SUCH a dumb idea I can't believe they even let it go public. The only thing it will do is cause kids to change their lingo. There are entirely too many innocuous words already that would have to be filtered. You'd ultimately wind up having to give up verbs altogether. Silly Jobs!  ~SM | ||
| Cityxslicker |
meh, it wont do sextin in russian. (not that we had cell phones in highschool) but when you wanted to get one over on the teach, it was always russian that got it done. (school only had french, spanish and german) Me and three friends taught ourselves the basics one summer in Jr High to avoid the trouble we always seemed to get into. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
ya xo7y tpogatb tvoya nygavitsa do tebya nposnyla soznaniya I want to ring your 'button' until you pass out  | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
that's just a waste. What words does it censor? fk? f*ck? also if you run the words together like f@&kyoua$$hole will it work? Doubtful and even if it does it's be like asking somebody if they want to eat cookies at lunch? way back in my day that meant want to get high, the teachers figured that out it became something else... | ||
| Midknyte |
Is Job's married? | ||
| Drkside79 |
Why R U interested? and to answer your question yes w/ kids | ||
| Gunut75 |
ya xo7y tpogatb tvoya nygavitsa do tebya nposnyla soznaniya How do I pronounce that?...............  | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Russian is extremely phonetic. ie if you can sound out the letters; it is how the word sounds ya xo7y tpogatb tvoya nygavitsa do tebya nposnyla soznaniya Ya hochy trogaet tvoya pygavietza doe Tiebya prosnyla soznaniya its soft like french, not gutteral like german, | ||
| Sparky |
It must be sorta like the profanity filter on BadWeB. BFD. |
