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> a patent which will allow the Redmond-based tech giant to identify and block users who stream files illegally over the web. NO. Patents do not allow you to d
by quadrangle 9y ago
> a patent which will allow the Redmond-based tech giant to identify and block users who stream files illegally over the web.
NO. Patents do not allow you to do whatever. Inventions do that. Patents give you a legal monopoly over whatever it describes. Either they actually made technology for this or they didn't, and that is unrelated to whether they have a patent.
- klodolph 9y agoIt's an example of metonymy, where related objects are substituted for each other. Metonymy is a common trope. It doesn't reflect some kind of misunderstanding of the world, and if you're going to complain about metonymy you might as well complain about metaphor and irony too.
- monochromatic 9y agoNo, this is just wrong, not metonymy. It stood out to me too.
- quadrangle 9y agoThat metonymy argument would be more correct if we knew that the technology existed. Patents are filed all the time for technology that doesn't really exist (or maybe even can't really work).