Roku wants to patent the ability to display ads when consoles connected to its TVs are paused

nanoUFO@sh.itjust.worksmod to Games@sh.itjust.works – 189 points –
Roku wants to patent the ability to display ads when consoles connected to its TVs are paused | VGC
videogameschronicle.com
20

Yes, patent it. Then nobody else can do it!

Nah, they'll sell the licensing rights for others to do it.

Yeah that's best case scenario at this point. But after they forced users to agree to a new agreement with their remote control or no longer be able to use their Roku/TV I sort of doubt they have our best interests in mind.

So good of Roku to increase power savings by looking to inspire gamers to turn their tvs off when they pause, even if just to go to the bathroom.

And good of them to patent such a sleezy move.

This is at the point where just not displaying ads at every corner is becoming a viable business plan

whew, thanks roku! for a awhile there i thought i might use one of your products. no longer a thought.

The forced arbitration EULA, ads on the homescreen, and prevention of installing your own apps didn't already convince you?

They sell their TVs at a loss because they anticipate making money back via advertising, so don't feel bad about buying a cheap 4k TV. It literally costs them money!*

*As long as you don't connect it to the internet for some dumb reason

Have to squeeze every possible fraction of a cent of potential revenue out. How else are you supposed to maintain infinite growth?

Not only should this be illegal, some of the underlying efforts should put people in jail.

I'm old enough that if my tv starts playing shit when it's paused i will shoot it

I honestly thought that not many people really cared for Roku anyway. I've never a Roku device and never will now.

This wouldn't fit with the gdpr, right?

Or maybe it's completely unrelated idk

That depends on how Roku gathers data. GDPR has, to my knowledge, nothing to do with the ways in which ads are shown. Just how the data on those ads is collected.