Apple is developing technology intended to prevent iPhone users from filming live concerts, reports the Times of London. The device would recognize when its video camera is viewing a live show, and automatically switch off, according to a patent application the
Times discovered.
Event venues would be outfitted with infrared sensors that would interact with concertgoers’ devices, which still would be able to make and receive phone calls.
The move is widely seen as Apple’s attempt to placate broadcasters and the recording industry. Some also see the technology as setting a dangerous precedent. With this type of technology eventually in place in all devices, removing control from the user, citizen video journalism could become a thing of the past.