NBC v. Apple

One questions that arose the other day in the Apple-NBC Kerfluffle was the demand that NBC wanted more copy protection.
bq.NBC Universal also wants iTunes to stiffen anti-piracy provisions so computer users would not have easy access to illegal downloads. – Associated Press Most people were quite what that meant.
bq.NBC apparently wants even tighter DRM on its videos than already provided by Apple, which allows users to authorize up to five computers to play back the video but has no DVD burning capabilities (unless the user wants to back up the file itself to a DVD). And as we know from the private admissions of Hollywood, stricter DRM restrictions aren’t about piracy-they’re about control. – Jacqui Cheng Good guess… but not quite.
bq.In addition, we asked Apple to take concrete steps to protect content from piracy, since it is estimated that the typical iPod contains a significant amount of illegally downloaded material. – Cory Shields Apparently, NBC wants Apple to force users to only be able to download preapproved material onto their iPod. That sound bizarre, but is actually exactly what CableLabs forced TiVo to do. Which is probably another reason you won’t ever see an Apple TV with CableCard Support.