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11/25/2005 Archived Entry: "TiVo mimics RebelFire"

REBELFIRE'S POOR, BELEAGUERED JEREMY would recognize the TiVo of the future:

The multimedia mobile personalization system would have a remote control that recognizes the viewer's RFID tag closest to the PVR. The remote control identifies and notifies the multimedia device through the RFID chip in the person's clothing or body to tailor the media content to their preferences.

The remote control device would identify and link the viewer to the system using an "RFID tag that is attached to a key ring, necklace, watch, in his wallet, or even a sub dermal tag inserted somewhere in the user's body." The remote control would detect the RFID tag in a limited radius so it wouldn't get confused by signals from others, the patent said.

Either broadcast or recorded television programs and music play lists stored on a local hard drive could be sorted, displayed or restricted (emphasis mine), depending on the user identifier. Other methods of identifying the user are stated, too, such as computer vision recognition, biometric identification, and voice analysis.

I'm sure some folks would love to have such a device. And I'm sure Silver, if he reads this, will remind me that patent applications alone mean nothing these days (they're often just a way for a big company to stake out broad territory in advance of the competition). And I'm sure the "restrict" function could be used benignly by parents protecting their kiddies.

But when you start linking control of electronic devices to implanted identity chips, you've entered territory where it's dangerous to tread -- and where government will gladly rush in. Unfortunately, you've also entered territory where Aaron and I have become prophets.

Posted by Claire @ 12:23 PM CST
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