I just read an article in Ars Technica about Microsoft’s newly granted patent for real-time censoring of audio streams. I’ve got some mixed feelings on the subject. On one hand, I’m a firm believer in John Gabriel’s Greater Internet F*ckwad Theory, but on the other hand, I’m fairly wary of censorship.

I don’t play a lot of online games. In fact, I think my online gaming has been limited exclusively to Team Fortress 2, which I played only because it came with the package of pure awesomeness that is The Orange Box. As a single-player gamer, I’ve not had to endure the profane put-downs of poorly-parented puerile punks, but I can sympathize with those who’ve had to listen to the likes of chocolate milk boy. If it were implemented as an optional filter on XBox live, I’d fully embrace this technology. If it doesn’t work well for you, simply turn it off and you’ve got the same thing that exists right now.
But there’s no guarantee that such a thing will be optional, and as Ars Technica points out, online gaming isn’t the only area we’re likely to see this technology implemented. Someone smart once said that newly introduced technology will always run its course and have its effect, although there’s generally no way to predict what that effect might be. This technology could have a real impact on free speech. I’m not going to flip if TV networks start using this type of real-time filter for live programming, but the minute somebody tries to filter anything out of my phone conversations, I’m gonna lose my shit.