Yet another example of why the entertainment industry is the new evil empire, and is run by idiots.
With each passing day, industry arguments in favor of stricter controls on how consumers use information and entertainment become more absurd and outrageous.
An AOL Time Warner executive actually asserted that television viewers are under contract to watch advertisements:
“Your contract when you get the show is you’re going to watch the spots [advertisements]…. Any time you skip a commercial…you’re actually stealing the programming,” Kellner is quoted as saying. He goes on to note that “there’s a certain amount of tolerance” for going to the bathroom.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has sued Turner Broadcasting and others over this issue, asserting that consumers have the right to record and watch TV as they please, without having information on their viewing habits forcibly turned over to entertainment companies (who will presumably use the data to track down the hardened criminals who aren’t watching ads for dentures).