More Censorship/Big Brother

posted by Jambi Bum

Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 06:35:43 AM EST

So we all have heard about Microsofts plans to try and censor certain words while playing. That really doesn't bother me all that much as long as it is an option that you can toggle. This next story however, does bother me. Apparently Sony has decided to monitor what you say over PSN. Then if anything unnecessarily evil/terrorism in nature comes up they report it to the government. Really glad I got rid of my PS3 now. Here is the story.                                        


Tags: Big brother, Crazy Sony (all tags)

Comments Disabled | 11 comments

  •  Sony just sucks all around. (none / 0)

    This is just further affirmation of that believe, especially in regards to content.

    http://tyrus-onthepath.blogspot.com/

    by tyrus on Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 08:52:55 AM EST

  •  There is no freedom of speach. (none / 0)

    Bob we wont forget you!!!

    by HELLFIRE V1 on Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 11:29:31 AM EST

  •  control and punish that is the kgb way (none / 0)

    The road, it's home, the mountain high, river low...

    by DEGREES OF FREEDOM on Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 11:52:24 AM EST

  •  I love America (none / 0)

    by Noobpancake on Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 09:06:10 PM EST

  •  Wow that is crazy... (none / 0)

    So if you are playing a game like COD or Counter Strike where you are playing terrorists... how do they tell if what you are saying is part of you playing the game and making strategies or if it is really a terrorist threat? And what about the stupid 12 year olds that talk all kinds of crap and have no idea what counts as terrorist talk?

    BluePhaze

    by BluePhaze on Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 12:06:47 AM EST

  •  More... (none / 0)

    The other issue I see with this is that this is the kind of thing that I bet the govt would love. Here is to hoping that the Gov doesn't like this idea to the point where they start enforcing companies to do this.

    BluePhaze

    by BluePhaze on Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 12:10:54 AM EST

  •  Is it me, or does it scream yellow journalism? (none / 0)

    A couple questions:
    Where does it say they will be reporting to the government (and can anyone directly quote the article to prove it)?

    Secondly, provided the above can be proven, which government would they report to? Local authorities? INTERPOL? Japan?

    Thirdly, when haven't game companies been watching (and recording) users? Granted, audio hasn't been traced before, but that seems much less intrusive than a security camera in a casino (a gaming environment taking place on your dime, in somebody else's house).

    Finally, what gives you the idea that they would be able to trace anything with any large degree of success?
    A telephone might get tagged after the word "bomb" gets used half a dozen times to filter results, but I dare anybody to find a successful way to determine who is plotting a shoot out in the real world vs. who happens to be playing a shooter (in other words, any theory on exactly how this system might function to trap Osama bin Laden?)

    "We can categorically state that we have not released any man eating badgers into the area." -Major Michael Shearer, UK military spokesman

    by Sparton 501 on Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 01:45:39 AM EST

    •  Huh (none / 0)

      Due to the fact that voice files would be large... and storage isn't free... what makes you think you are already being recored? If that were true people might actually get banned when they do stupid stuff instead of after 20 people report them.

      The tracing is not hard at all. Each machine has an IP address and a MAC address as well as a serial number and ID. If they are using the patriot act then the ISP would have to comply and help them as well...

      BluePhaze

      by BluePhaze on Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 03:24:02 AM EST

      [ Parent ]

      •  Because (none / 0)

        recording of activity does not rely solely on audio communication.
        The casino I work for has approximately 10,000-25,000 high definition security cameras.
        The video from this is only kept 14 days before being deleted.
        This makes it difficult to archive exactly what a certain table game pit might have looked like a month ago, but we have a good idea of what went on by looking at player's club cards, Information Services tracking, and accounting.
        However, this is irrelevant, because a shortage/excess of funds at any one station can be identified within several hours, and resolved within a day, long before the video is purged.
        Thusly, storage space is less an issue than would initially be expected.

        Regarding my own belief that I am being recorded, well, since when has every Marketplace transaction not been recorded?
        It is done transparently (that is, it is presented in a list that I can review at my own leisure), but the fact is, every single match and transaction has been recorded already.

        The statement that tracking is not difficult is correct.
        Yet my question remains; what is the criteria to search by?
        Do we tag users who say "Bomb" more than 3 times an hour? Good luck to those who choose to do so on a platform with any warlike, platforming, or sandbox games.

        "We can categorically state that we have not released any man eating badgers into the area." -Major Michael Shearer, UK military spokesman

        by Sparton 501 on Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 05:19:02 PM EST

        [ Parent ]

        •  Right (none / 0)

          Statistics are tracked, and of course your purchase history is tracked, that is how you can redownload items you have bought, and your matches are tracked for the true skill ranking system. And Some game devs have buit tracking into there games in termsof number of kills and by what means. But actually recording millions of gamers in any one day would most likely lead to us upping the price of live subscriptions to afford all the extra storage, bandwidth and people to monitor it.

          I can't rightly understand how sony is going to try and get context around what users are saying especially in games like call of duty and ghost recon. If I am fighting terrorists and planting bombs... my verbage is probably going to be pretty suspect according to the sounds of it. It seems really crazy. I think that is why we are going a different route with ours if the stories are true. I would much rather have software that cuts out certain words, than worry about the fact that what I am saying is being monitored for terrorist verbage by Sony... CRAZY!

          BluePhaze

          by BluePhaze on Fri Oct 24, 2008 at 03:02:08 AM EST

          [ Parent ]

Comments Disabled | 11 comments