"Oh the irony," Mashable observed in reporting on Amazon's new patent "to block you from online price checking in its stores." Under the title "Physical store online shopping control," the system "would intercept certain URLs, search terms, and other web activity that takes place on its in-store Wi-Fi." Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos first filed for the patent in 2012.
"Systems and methods for controlling online shopping within a physical store or retailer location are provided," the patent's abstract explains. "A wireless network connection may be provided to a consumer device at a retailer location on behalf of a retailer, and content requested by the consumer device via the wireless network connection may be identified. Based upon an evaluation of the identified content, a determination may be made that the consumer device is attempting to access information associated with a competitor of the retailer or an item offered for sale by the retailer. At least one control action may then be directed based upon the determination."
The Seattle Review of Books' headline opted for a post-irony alternative: "Amazon develops anti-showrooming software and irony is dead."