Using the V-chip to Filter Commercial Advertisements

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 11:05 PM 1/25/96, Sten Drescher wrote:

>their own.  But do you really think that MTV will use a V-Code?  (It
>could be amusing if they did - 10 minutes of blank screen, then 2
>minutes of commercials when someone cranks all of their settings to
>Full Filter.)

One way to kill the V-chip dead is to announce hacks to the V-chip box that
will do the _reverse_ of this: block commercials (advertisements, for any
non-American readers) but pass programs.

(Before anyone points out that such boxes have been built, based on volume
levels, spectral content, etc., sure. What I'm speculating about is a
subversive campaign to get the meme out there that the V-chip can be used
as a filter of commercials.)

Even if it is not done, fear of the possibility of this will kill the proposal.

--Tim


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