] Wolzien has a plan: Regulate the DVR so consumers have to
] watch the commercials. It's the only way to prevent the
] technology from destroying a $60 billion business. The
] government mandates all sorts of things in TV sets, after
] all--from UHF tuners to closed-captioning to HDTV. He sees ]networks feeding their signals with codes that tell DVRs whether ]the commercial can be skipped, giving "control of playback ]parameters to the content provider who sells the bulk of the ]revenue-producing advertising that funds that content."

That's just fantastic thinking. As one commentator put it, why not just ban switching channels during the commercials as well?

Broadcasting & Cable - The Shape of Things To Come