Broadcast flag

Since the case, Sony vs Universal in 1984, it has been cosidered fair use to record TV shows for later viewing. Of course, the MPAA is never one to respect fair use and has been constantly fighting against this right. Their newest plan is the broadcast flag.

A broadcast flag is a set of status bits (or "flags") sent in the data stream of a digital television program that indicates whether or not it can be recorded, or if there are any restrictions on recorded content. Possible restrictions include inability to save a digital program to a hard disk or other non-volatile storage, inability to make secondary copies of recorded content (in order to share or archive), forceful reduction of quality when recording (such as reducing high-definition video to the resolution of standard TVs), and inability to skip over commercials.

So far 20 congress members have voiced support for it.
More information at
Stopping the Signal: Broadcast Flag Update #2
Stop the Broadcast Flag (Again)