Google Patents Using iPhones To Kill 'Free Bird' 176
theodp writes "At Chicago's Billy Goat Tavern, construction workers found physical threats an effective way to discourage smart-ass Whitney Young High School students from playing annoying jukebox songs over and over again. But with Google's newly-patented technology for the Collaborative Rejection of Media for Physical Establishments, you no longer need to resort to violence to prevent Elton John Songs from being played on jukeboxes in bars. Its invention, boasts Google, 'enables customers of an establishment to collaboratively reject a media file that is currently playing and/or pending to be played within that establishment by entering data into a personal wireless portable computing device on their person, for example a cellular telephone.' But don't get your hopes up too high, kids. Much like Google's dual-tier stock plan, the patent calls for 'customer status levels including a premium status and a standard status,' so a premium customer will be able to veto attempts by lowly standard customers to kill his requests to play MC Hammer's 'Can't Touch This'. The patent comes from a quirky Outland Research IP portfolio acquired by Google; its inventor is Louis B. Rosenberg, a Stanford PhD and professional film maker."
Re:Google, the new patent abusing company (Score:4, Informative)
Why do people keep parroting this shit?
Google has said they will never sue over patents and they haven't. It's more so they can protect themselves later and also highlights a complete lack of patent office quality.
Re:Speaking as a hipster (Score:5, Informative)
Because they bought a whole slew of patents in a portfolio, and this happened to be included?
Despite the headline, it seems Google has nothing to do with the invention, or the patenting. They just hold the IP now, and have done a whopping total of nothing with it.