Micro$oft awarded Interactive Entertainment patent..

[thevoice]

What is this going to do to VOD?


Overview

Patent (http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6571390.WKU.&OS=PN/6571390&RS=PN/6571390)

[Karl Foster]

Why does that deserve a thumbs-down? They paid for the development, and took all the risk. Does that not deserve something?

[ericha]

This is actually a very narrow patent. Read the "claims" section carefully. Each claim includes the requirement that the scrolling of the displayed list have a user-selectable speed. That's really all that's being patented here.

[catman]

Let's look at this . webtv . is gone . Now , MSNTV . Microsoft just wants your money and that's it . I was a former webtver .

[waydwolf]

    It does nothing to VoD in any way. The cable companies could give a rat's arse as to the menu designs compared to the technical issues of delivery which are pretty well known and already being dealt with.

    Where Microsoft might have something eventually is if anyone ever comes up with a digital cable tuner card with CA(Conditional Access) allowing viewing of all subscribed content including PPV and VoD on a PC. Microsoft's idiot obsession with media copy protection would suck like a 500hp Electrolux and make an equivalent to Dish ripping very difficult and only result in a furtherance of Linux or other OS use that wasn't encryption native.