April 21, 2006

Philips Takes Heat About Forced Commercials Patent

In this day and age, you want to be careful when you're developing products that are considered anti-consumer. Yesterday we told you about Philips' patent for a device that keeps viewers from skipping commercials. Well, Philips Electronics took a beating from consumers about the news. According to GlobeandMail.com:

The Netherlands-based company -- maker of Philips brand TV sets -- issued an apologetic statement after angry e-mails and phone calls flooded its North American office Wednesday afternoon and continued through yesterday.
"They have been very vocal," Philips spokesman Andre Manning said of the consumer response. "You can fill in the blanks of what they are saying. They are really upset."

The furor erupted after reports surfaced that Phillips has applied for a U.S. patent on technology that lets broadcasters lock channels during commercial interludes of certain programs. Such a device would prevent channel surfing at a time when the emergence of personal video recorders (PVRs) and other technology is giving consumers increasing power to ignore commercials at the push of a button.

Well, it didn't take long to consumers to rebel against Philip's patent request. You have to wonder how much their patent application is going to hurt their business?

At GlobeandMail.com