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.