Apple Patents Sext-Blocking Technology

Apparently just keeping porn off the iPad isn't enough for Steve Jobs and Co. Now Apple is trying to take the tawdry out of text messaging with a technology that can prevent their devices from sending or receiving "objectionable" texts. The U.S. Patent and Trademark office approved a patent for "Text-based communication control for personal communication device" Wednesday. The background information Apple submitted with their patent request expressed concern that there is currently "no way to monitor and control text communications to make them user appropriate. For example, users such as children may send or receive messages (intentionally or not) with parentally objectionable language." Their new see-no-evil application would evaluate whether a given text contained "approved" content based on "objective ratings criteria or a user's age or grade level." If the text is too naughty, the application "prevents such text from being included in the text-based communication," and alerts the user (or his parents) that a text has been blocked. TechCrunch's Alexa Tsotsis says isn't overly optimistic about the chances of Steve Jobs saving the nation's teenagers from themselves. Serial sexters will just "find some clever workaround to express how much they want to bang, screw, hit it or a myriad of other words that don't immediately set off the censorship sensors," she predicts. And just keeping kids in line won't rid us of the nation's worst sext offenders, unless Brett Favre's mom still pays his phone bill. 

From Slate (10-14-10)

Read original story in TechCrunch | Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010