Apple Patents Technology to Disable iPhone Cameras in Theaters

[pupscotch]

http://www.playbill.com/article/apple-patents-technology-to-deactivate-iphone-cameras-in-theatres

This still doesn't solve the cell phones ringing problem, and doesn't allow photos of Playbills before the show. Would a snapchat or other 3rd party camera still work? I'm not sure this combats the full problem, and it may not be legal, but it's a start!

[@z5]

I don't like this. Doesn't target nor eliminate an issue well enough at all. it'll piss people off more than anything..like me, who never ever uses a phone during a show.

[CATSNYrevival]

None of the good bootlegs are filmed on iPhones. We're safe for now.

[HogansHero]

I support any legal way of disabling phones in theatres but (a) this is not as critical as preventing noise from phones (could this technology also disable ringers?) and (b) at a time that people are talking about iphone sales drops, this doesn't seem like the greatest strategy. Anyone for whom camera access is "important" will just buy an android. 

[yetta]

[Liza's Headband]

If you read the article, they explain how it works. There would be some installation of technology necessary at the venue itself. That is how it would be activated. I highly doubt your middle school is concerned about bootleg recordings on an iPhone.

[Tag]

This technology doesn't make sense for Broadway.  The biggest problem is ringing phones and people texting, which this does not apply to at all.  And secondly, the ability to take pictures in a theatre has become a marketing tool in itself (ie. people posting on instagram, FB, Twitter, etc. advertises the show).  A policy which the Shuberts have recently caught on to and allowed.

[Fosse76]

I can't imagine that this would be legal. If I paid for an iPhone, then I have every right to expect every feature to work as manufactured. Neither Apple nor a theater operator have any right to disable the features they don't like. Apple has a right to manufacture the devices without these features, and I have a right to buy the competitor's product. Add to that the possibility of interference with other devices. 

 

Now obviously use of this technology would be at the discretion of the venue, but like I say above, what right do they have to interfere with the functionality of my electronic devices?

[Wick3]

Ok... but can they disable rings? disabling rings would be more important to me as a theatre goer rather than disabling my iPhone camera.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Apple files many, many patents (as do all big technology companies), many of which never see the light of day. Sometimes it's for a technology or design that they decide to drop as the development process proceeds, sometimes it's to block some other company from doing something similar and getting the jump on them. Until I hear about this beyond the patent phase I'm not going to worry about it.