Microsoft’s Terrifying New Patent | LG-Style ACR for Games & Software

At some point we are all going to have to unite and say enough is enough, and finally get some serious privacy legislation on the books.

This just keeps getting worse and worse and worse every day.

Everything you do online is constantly monitored. What you watch on TV is constantly monitored. The video games you play are constantly monitored. Your car constantly sending data about your driving habits to the manufacturer (who then sells it on). Flock and other ALPR cameras everywhere using AI to track not just our cars, but now also our faces.

It is just unbelievable that we have let this happen. I would have thought for sure that there would be a revolt to stop this by now, but instead we just let it keep getting worse and worse, seemingly by the day.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
At some point we are all going to have to unite and say enough is enough, and finally get some serious privacy legislation on the books.

This just keeps getting worse and worse and worse every day.

Everything you do online is constantly monitored. What you watch on TV is constantly monitored. The video games you play are constantly monitored. Your car constantly sending data about your driving habits to the manufacturer (who then sells it on). Flock and other ALPR cameras everywhere using AI to track not just our cars, but now also our faces.

It is just unbelievable that we have let this happen. I would have thought for sure that there would be a revolt to stop this by now, but instead we just let it keep getting worse and worse, seemingly by the day.
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What choice do we have? The companies that want to do this are funding election campaigns. We are not. The government doesn’t serve us, it serves them.

At least you guys are as bad as we are up here in Canada. Our government’s newest proposal is the “safe social media act”, where we will have to sacrifice our privacy so the government can keep us safe online or something like that, because if you can’t trust the government, who CAN you trust?
 
pioruns said:
Just move to Linux, guys.
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This isn't some Windows-specific feature, it's a multi-platform general gaming feature. Likely targeted at "free-to-play" games, even on things like phones that again, have nothing to do with Windows. You can blame Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha for embracing that free-to-play model. The old adage, "If you aren't paying for something, then you are the product" very much applies here. All you need to do to avoid this is simply avoid the craptacular free-to-play games that implement this.
 
pioruns said:
Just move to Linux, guys.
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That may mitigate the privacy invasion for me, but im(not so)ho the people who stay with microsoft/google/apple software still deserve their privacy.

Apart from that, how long do you think it will remain feasible in our societies for individuals to offpunk big-tech?
 
HockeyJon said:
What choice do we have?
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Not engage with products that implement this.
HockeyJon said:
The companies that want to do this are funding election campaigns. We are not. The government doesn’t serve us, it serves them.
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The companies can only bribe politicians if they get your money, so stop giving them your money.
SecretStash said:
On the bright side no one else can use the patent?
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You can't patent an idea, only a specific implementation of it. So, unfortunately this won't prevent others from doing something similar.

Others might already have a version of this patent. I remember sony patenting something similar years ago.
Ripskin said:
Linux may only protect you from the OS side of it
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Not if it's implemented in your monitor like HDCP. They will say it's totally about protecting children.
 
This is where, as I've said many, many times before - we need to have a legislative, regulatory component to the solution in terms of new privacy laws. Our existing privacy legislation is at least 30 years out of date, made for an analogue world. This has essentially empowered every form of surveillance capitalism because of either outdated or just plain inapplicable laws to deal with the digital age and the Internet; an that was before the catastrophe that is the emergence o the social media age.

Consider the big discussion about Sony and Playstation moving to put an end to physical distribution. The only benefit that physical discs have is because of a bit of copyright law precedent regarding doctrine of first sale that applies to other physical media like books or home video. However, we see so much energy pushed toward maintaining or returning to this (increasingly technically outmoded) loophole instead of getting at the crux of the issue which is that we SHOULD have the exact same right of digital resale! Instead, lobbyists from megacorps were able to leverage technical ignorance to suggest that somehow licenses from digital sales are different, despite paying with the same money (which conveniently is accepted in both physical paper form and digital without any problem) and thus we lack the ability for resale of digital content. We need to focus on the big picture. Another example is the continued attempts by YouTube and Twitch (among many others , but they're a good example) to restrict users from using ad blockers, proxies like Invidious/Piped, or alternate software that grants new features. They update their API in an intentionally obtuse method, lock out all of the frontends and alternate utilities, leaving the devs to scramble to find new methods if they are able. These frontends and utilities often require increasingly expensive web services to keep functionality if restored (and some, like the frontends for other sites like instagram may end up dying entirely, or coming close like the nitter frontent for Xitter), while YT et al add increasingly invasive monitoring policies under the guise of "fighting bots" or "protecting the children". Many regular users have to end up logging in to avoid these blocks, while more and more content is being restricted even outside frontend use; YouTube flagging content as "mature" means that it cannot be visible without a sufficiently aged account logged in, even when the media itself is something like a tame advertisement for an update to a game that happens to be Teen or M rated. These are just a few examples and they're becoming increasingly troublesome, especially with corporate demands that you use THEIR AI; Amazon recently attempted to block 3rd party shopping agents (which are not worth profiling nor vulnerable to advertisers etc) in favor not just of getting monetizable human eyes on the site, but that people make use of its Rufus AI in house shopping agent! .

We need to resolve the problem at its root if we're going to do anything more than an occasional band-aid on the most egregious occurrences of surveillance, capitalism, and surveillance capitalism or temporary solutions employed by the technically adept which vested interests attempt to quash, thus leading to an arms race. We need to demand strict privacy laws and the expectation that technology operates at the behest of the user, retains the minimal amount of information necessary to do what is desired, purges it when no longer necessary, guarding it securely until then. We can and should not have to give up access to beneficial technologies because profiteering corporations and other entities only want them to serve at their behest, be it a high quality OLED TV/monitor, some manner of AI agent, or anything else.
 
GotNoRice said:
This isn't some Windows-specific feature, it's a multi-platform general gaming feature. Likely targeted at "free-to-play" games, even on things like phones that again, have nothing to do with Windows. You can blame Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha for embracing that free-to-play model. The old adage, "If you aren't paying for something, then you are the product" very much applies here. All you need to do to avoid this is simply avoid the craptacular free-to-play games that implement this.
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The 'promoted content server' still has to hook onto some part of the 'device', with the 'device' being a system comprising of a processor and storage with instructions stored thereon classed as a 'content management system'; therefore the operating system has to have the capability to suspend a users interaction with the interactive software application in order to display the promoted content from the third party server.

It may not be a Windows specific feature (although the possibility the feature is limited to some form of Microsoft product(s) is likely considering the patent holder); but the very patent highlights in non specific terms that the device, which obviously has some form of operating system (storage and instructions), has to support a 'content management system' for the feature to work as intended - it's highly unlikely Linux will support this content management system, it's highly likely Windows will.

Screenshot from the patent for reference:

Microsoft patent.png

A link to the patent in question:

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/20260260258
 
Mazzspeed said:
it's highly unlikely Linux will support this content management system, it's highly likely Windows will.
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That would just mean that Linux won't be compatible with that free app or game. That's fine. I already suggested that the solution is to simply not use the trashy software/games that might implement this. The problem is that there are unfortunately a lot of people who actually play these free-to-play games. Enough to incentivize compatibility in most cases.
 
GotNoRice said:
That would just mean that Linux won't be compatible with that free app or game. That's fine. I already suggested that the solution is to simply not use the trashy software/games that might implement this. The problem is that there are unfortunately a lot of people who actually play these free-to-play games. Enough to incentivize compatibility in most cases.
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The assumption is that the underlying content management system will be a UWP application to support both Windows and XBox, I find compatibility with Linux somewhat unlikely. As to whether that means the game can be rendered incompatible with Linux without resorting to blocking games via kernel level anti cheat remains to be seen.

There's already FTP games under Android that do a similar thing after a period of time, most of the time people get frustrated with the interruptions once their 'credit runs out' and dump the game entirely.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
At some point we are all going to have to unite and say enough is enough, and finally get some serious privacy legislation on the books.

This just keeps getting worse and worse and worse every day.

Everything you do online is constantly monitored. What you watch on TV is constantly monitored. The video games you play are constantly monitored. Your car constantly sending data about your driving habits to the manufacturer (who then sells it on). Flock and other ALPR cameras everywhere using AI to track not just our cars, but now also our faces.

It is just unbelievable that we have let this happen. I would have thought for sure that there would be a revolt to stop this by now, but instead we just let it keep getting worse and worse, seemingly by the day.
Click to expand...
I opt out via poverty. Take that, AI overlords!
 
Plenty of older games that are, better anyways to play. I can’t see enjoying a game with out of context, injected, interrupting advertising. If a company wants to advertise in a game, make an asset, a good usable one and be part of the game.
 
uOpt said:
Between Canonical and Mozilla.org there's quite a bit of default-opt-in telemetry going on, too.
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No one forces you to use default settings, or default anything. Microsoft Windows is a default choice for PCs. The point is to not use the default system, and find something better. :) Linux (in general) is that thing.
As other's have said, Canonical does not collect any data by default, so your claim may be false. I have not verified that, and it may not matter much, because:
Canonical's Linux distribution is not the "default", it's not even most popular one. Canonical Limited is a for-profit British company. They are small fish in Linux sea. Their Linux distro is slow anyway, and generally not recommended among power users.
Mozilla's Firefox is optional, there are plenty of other FOSS browsers too. I compile and maintain my own version of Librewolf ESR browser, which does not collect any telemetry - it's a Firefox ESR with telemetry removed, very simple and effective proposition.
And Linux distro I am using does not have any EULA, Terms and Conditions, or Privacy Policy, because they track and collect nothing. Try that with Microsoft. :)
 
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M76 said:
Not engage with products that implement this.

The companies can only bribe politicians if they get your money, so stop giving them your money.
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They're all doing it, and that's the problem. Advertising is too lucrative, user tracking is too easy to do, and politicians are too easily bought.
 
HockeyJon said:
They're all doing it, and that's the problem. Advertising is too lucrative, user tracking is too easy to do, and politicians are too easily bought.
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If all do it, then you don't engage with any of them. I don't see the issue here. A smart TV is not a necessity.
 
M76 said:
If all do it, then you don't engage with any of them. I don't see the issue here. A smart TV is not a necessity.
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We’re not talking about a smart TV here, we’re talking about Microsoft. Good luck using nothing connected to them in any capacity.
 
pioruns said:
Another user who cannot imagine using Linux instead of Windowslop?
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Because Windows on your personal PC is your only interaction with Microsoft? Even Steve says in the video that moving to Linux isn't sufficient protection to fully dodge this whole situtation.

In any case, try telling the board of every company in the world to switch their software stack from Microsoft over to Linux.
 
pioruns said:
Another user who cannot imagine using Linux instead of Windowslop?
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Not everyone is in the luxurious position of being able to choose their OS, and no one can choose the OS of every single person and organisation that they come into contact with.
 
Home users are in a fortunate position to choose the operating system they want for their machines. Anyone who continues to use Windows (and suffer) at home does so by their own volition.

As for corporations, I am not one, so I do not care what they use.
 
pioruns said:
Home users are in a fortunate position to choose the operating system they want for their machines. Anyone who continues to use Windows (and suffer) at home does so by their own volition.

As for corporations, I am not one, so I do not care what they use.
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How many normies have you successfully converted to Linux home users?
 
1_rick said:
How many normies have you successfully converted to Linux home users?
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People (IRL) approach me, to get Linux on their PC or laptop.
1_rick said:
How many normies have you successfully converted to Linux home users?
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It's not converting. It's showing people the alternative. Obvious alternative, and very good one at that. Why suffer? I've been like that, for decades. Finished my Windows journey on Windows 10. No more pain. :)
 
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