Well, the Federal Communications Commission gave the OK to let TiVo allow users to share and send digital broadcast shows over the Internet, but limited to just 9 TiVo"friends" or users. It uses a key to limit access to the TV show.
The NFL is up in arms since they fear people won't attend football games in areas where a blackout is in effect. The theory is that blackouts cause more people to go to the game. (hogwash!)
The NFL fears fans getting TV access to blacked out games, not going to the stadium and thus costing them revenue. Gimme a break! What football fan is going to say "Well, I can get the football game downloaded to me, so there's no point going to the game now."
First of all, what football fan would have to wait for the entire recording to be done before receiving a copy from a TiVo friend. Even over broadband, it may take several hours. By then the game is over and the results are known. I think most people would rather download TV episodes they forgot to record than sporting events that are hours if not days old.
C'mon, how can you watch a pre-recorded game when the result is already known? You can't even root for your team since the end result has been decided. I've never been a fan of recorded sports, although I will say I do watch ESPN Classics to watch past exciting games. But that's different.
I never believed blackouts caused more people to go to football stadiums. If anything, they are annoying and reduce the Nielsen ratings (and hence ad revenue). For example, I've tried to get into see a New York Giants game and lo and behold they are sold out for the entire season. So then I go to watch it on TV and lo and behold it's blacked out. Thanks NFL. I'll go watch a DVD instead.
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