I don't know what grounds they could have for a lawsuit over the commercial advance feature and the program sharing feature

I think I am going to put myself in an unpopular minority position here... but so be it.

I have to come down on the side of the Networks in this instance. Now whether thay have a legal or moral right to insist that people who watch their programs also watch their commercials... I don't want to get into that. But from a purely selfish point of view, I want to see the networks continue, and the only way they can do that is through the sale of advertising. If there were no networks, there would be much less programming to watch, and that program would be expensive. (You think the cable companies wouldn't raise their rates through the roof it they were the only game in town?) A great deal of network programming is not particularly good... but there is enough that is good that I cannot even begin to watch all of it that my TiVo records for me, and I do not subscribe to any cable service or have a satellite dish--the only television I watch comes in through the antenna on my roof.

The production costs of the programming I watch is paid for by the people who advertise in the programs. And the fewer people who watch their advertisements, the less money the network can charge, thus the less available for production of entertainment.

So who cares if the networks go away? There's always cable... but I for one would miss shows like "West Wing"; "Ally McBeal"; "Boston Public"; "Jag"; "Dark Angel"; even the syndicated re-runs of "Grace Under Fire".

So, yes, the networks are concerned, and I share those concerns.Any limitation on the variety and diversity of programming available to me is a Bad Thing, and having to sit through the occasional commercial is a small sacrifice to make.

That said, and to absolutely prove my total hypocrisy, I have probably not watched 50 commercials in total since last January when I got my TiVo. That 60x fast forward speed makes it pretty easy to skip by the commercial breaks.

tanstaafl.