In accordance with the present invention, a filtering process is based on the
output side of a multimedia decoder. A navigator monitors the current play position
of the multimedia content and compares that position with navigation objects. Each
navigation object defines a start position, a stop position, and an filtering action
to perform on the portion of the multimedia content that begins at the start position
and ends at the stop position. When the current play position falls within the
portion of multimedia content defined by a particular navigation object, the navigator
activates the filtering action that was assigned to the navigation object. Filtering
actions include skipping, muting, reframing, etc., the portion of multimedia content
defined by a navigation object. A variety of systems may be used to implement the
present invention, such as computer systems (consumer and server), television systems,
and audio systems.
