Does censorship work as expected?

Tihs g0t m3 th1nklng…

Ars Technica, which reported on the patent both when Microsoft applied for it in 2004 as well as now that it has been granted, notes that the technology could be used for more than just censoring profanity, suggesting that perhaps China or another government would want it employed for other phrases, such as Tibet or free speech. Microsoft gets bleeping patent (news.cnet.com)

W3 konw taht t#e hmuan barin is a gaert ptteran mtachnig mchaine, rgiht?

We all know know what the *bleep* stands for because of the context it’s used in. Profanyms are just polite self-bleeps that we insert instead of using Full Strength® profanity… Bleeping out Tibet in news reporting (or Palin, for another timely US-oriented example) won’t change what the news consumers understand. Listeners will still get the full message, plus the added meaning of naughtiness, unless it’s so badly redacted that it carries no meaning whatsoever.

Rather than worry about censors using technology, I think we should be worrying about making sure that those who “might” be subject to censorship still have the technology to communicate!