Thursday, October 16

Much Ado - Give a regulator a TiVo and what do you get? Government-regulated TiVo. The FCC, computer makers, broadcasters and the entertainment industry are in another wrangle over whether any device that can record digital TV would have to be built with special circuitry to protect copyright holders. Taking the long view, none of these technological measures are going to matter in the end. Remember how excited people got about the V-chip? Does anyone even realize they've got one in every TV set these days? Exactly. Methinks we'll care about as much about the "broadcast flag" in 10 years.