Before something like this is approved (I'm assuming the C5 signal will be broadcast with the television signal) it's going to have to be approved by the FCC, and likely the FTC. At the very least, the FTC will step in and ensure that nothing like what you're fearing will happen, even if the encryption code is allowed by the FCC to be included in the broadcast signal in the first place. Given the ability to intercept and either decode or completely remove it with relative ease (I give it, oh, six months before someone comes up with a way to do it), it very well may be deemed unnecessary and we're back to the original plan, prohibiting the use of digital recorders to copy videos and DVDs. Because, let's think about this. There are two satellite TV providers (soon to be one, if Echostar successfully buys out Hughes) and countless digital cable providers across this fine country of ours with millions of subscribers, all of whom have receivers to hook up their five hundred channels to their televisions. First, you're going to have to look at the astounding cost of either replacing every single box with one that supports the C5 encryption or sending out software updates to each receiver (something that's impossible for DirecTV users) to update it to the new standard. What a hassle, huh? And what of the other millions of viewers who only have an antenna to pick up network television, what of them? Will they be unaffected by this most nefarious plan to control what the public sees? Unless someone invents the money tree to finance this, it's not going to be applied to television.

Besides, there's already a grand solution for DirecTV and DiSH subscribers: integrated receiver/digital recording boxes. Mine, for example, is a receiver with digital recording and WebTV built into it. I hardly use digital recording (pausing live TV just kicks ass, though) and never use WebTV, but it's there and it's impossible to record anything that doesn't come in through DiSH. Why? Because the recording is built into the channel navigation, of course. Hook up anything besides the satellite to the input, and you're not going to record anything apart from a blank screen. But I digress.

My point is, it's just not feasible (for all parties involved) to apply this to a television signal, especially with the HDTV (*JARRING CHORD*) switch looming near.