TiVo shows details of KidZone service
Forget all the talk about TiVo's new pricing plan and the rollout of the Series 3 model. We know that what you really want are some deets about TiVo's KidZone service. No? Well, humor us a little, since Dave Zatz apparently went to the trouble of crashing TiVo's introduction of the service, which actually brought out the company brass, members of Congress and execs from non-profits, all of whom were gushing over the service's ability to protect kids from all of that evil content out there in TV-land. Basically, the service allows parents to block channels, as well as specific programs, based both on their own opinions and on recommendations from the Parents' Choice Foundation. All of this is protected by a four-digit PIN, so kids can't change the settings. Wait a sec -- a four-digit PIN? We give this a week until some 8-year-old hooks his TiVo remote up to a PC and launches a brute-force attack to crack his parents' PIN. Good effort, TiVo, but don't underestimate the kids: they know tech, they dig TV, and they have way too much free time (especially if their parents are limiting their TV time).
