Science Fiction- NOT!

No Gravatar

Are you old enough to remember the movie by Steven Spielberg- Minority Report- starring Tom Cruise?  Or, perhaps you have read the Philip Dick story upon which it is based?

Minority Report (film)
Minority Report (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While folks were walking along the street, they were bombarded with advertisements aimed specifically at them.  It’s like Facebook gone amok.

Well, this is no longer science fiction.  (By the way, we also arrest folks for their intent to do something now, too- without waiting for them to have done it, another feature of Minority Report.)  Because if you are using a DVR, you will be finding advertisers- and specifically political parties, attacking (oh, wait, they call it “inserting”) your recordings with their own advertisements aimed just at you.

DirecTV and Dish Network are the first providers to “offer” this service, this “addressable advertising”.  They will let the political parties adjust the DVR material you have stored to have tailored ads- one that never appeared when you recorded them.  That’s 20 million folks to be hit with this “benefit”.

You see, you will record a program, one you want to see. And, in the middle of the night, DirecTV or Dish will ‘invade’ your DVD and save these non-chosen tidbits.  (Notice, I didn’t say they would be truthful- just developed to manipulate your thinking that you should vote for ‘Charley Crook’.  They also will determine which time of the program you are most likely to be susceptible to their mind-bending alterations.)  And, when they think the time is right, the party will inform your DVR to insert the ad into the program you are watching.  Replacing the commercial(s) that were actually aired at that time.  (Oh, and you can bet you won’t be able to fast-forward over these missives.)

This new concept is called ‘D2’.  And, both parties (sadly) will be employing its services.   The Democratic Party version is called ‘Target Smart’ and is in cahoots with Clarity Campaign Labs (which collects data on your voting patterns). The Republican party version is ‘i360’.

But, beware- the Koch Brothers (you know those MIT folks, Charles and David, who also run ALEC, about which I’ve railed repeatedly), through “Freedom Partners” is behind this D2 partnership of DirecTV and Dish.  (Don’t you just love that name- when their goal is to brainwash you.  That’s freedom to them.)

Don’t think this is an isolated case, either.  Cablevision has this already going on in New York (the “addressable advertising” effort).  And, other cable providers are watching to see how it works (and drooling over the potential pot of gold they can earn).

Yeah.  You folks that laughed at me because I still use my own VCR and special computer programming.  That omit ALL commercials and everything is only under MY control.   Who’s laughing now?

 

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter
Share

4 thoughts on “Science Fiction- NOT!”

    1. I, too, am very tired of being tracked. And, even more tired when I get “directed” calls or eMails…
      Instead of Tor, I use a virtual computer. Each time I finish visiting the web, I reset the virtual computer to what it was before I started. All history gone…

Comments are closed.