Strange but true. Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), would have patented software capable of "erasing", or rather censoring, the bad language from the songs. There will be a great deal of work to do on some modern artists
It sounds like a joke, but a patent application is genuine: it was filed over a year ago, it has a code (Application # 20160093316) and a name («US Patent Application for Management, Replacement and Removal of Explicit Lyrics during Audio Playback Patent Application» ).
In the United States, moreover, the songs often had two versions: one "explicit" it's a "clean», cleaned of swear words and references that are too bold for radio broadcast. Beats1 itself, Apple Music's online radio, only broadcasts "clean" versions. In the future, Apple wants to apply a filter that recognizes swear words and, if decided by the user, replaces them with a beep, alternative text or silence.
"The methods, devices and techniques described here can be applied to different content e instruments of audio reproduction, such as music, audiobooks, satellite radio, as well as audio channels of video systems such as television, DVDs, online streaming", reads the patent. Have we arrived in the era of technological censorship?
