So do have a DVR or Tivo?

[Mindi]

If you like to skip commercials using your DVR or Tivo or even if you like to flip channels during the commercials, check this out.

An excerpt:

SAN JOSE, Calif. - In this era of easy ad skipping with TiVo-like video recorders, could television viewers one day be forced to watch commercials with a system that prevents channel switching?

Yes, according to Royal Philips Electronics. A patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says researchers of the Netherland-based consumer electronics company have created a technology that could let broadcasters freeze a channel during a commercial, so viewers wouldn't be able to avoid it.

Of course it's easy to dismiss it..."well I will just never buy a TV with that technology installed"......but if it gets to the point where that is all that is on the market or it's installed in cable boxes, DVRs and Tivos then there may not be a choice.

[Baron Munchausen]

There is always a choice. If this is 'all that is on the market' you just stop watching television. Actually, I already stopped years ago.

And someone, somewhere will always be able to figure out how to break the electronic 'security' anyway. Then this person will just post his/her favorite tv shows commercial free to a bittorrent site. It only takes a few people doing this to provide a way for nearly everyone to get the shows they want.