BBC has an iPlayer feature that let's you watch TV broadcasts you may have missed on the "Beeb." Problem is, it's only open to folks who live in the U.K. So I have to keep reading little inside references to the "EastEnders" in Nick Hornsby novelettes but do I get to see what all the fuss is about? Hardly.

So sure, I fired off this missive to Mark Thompson over at the BBC Internet Blog explaining my discomfort with their decision:

Dear Mr. Thompson,
I wish I knew a lot of British swears so I could correctly describe my feelings towards the Beeb for not letting us Yanks take a gander at your programming online. Rumour has it (yes, "rumour" not "rumor" - we can be retrained) that you've come a long way since Sheep Herding in the Highlands, or whatever it was I watched that one time. Well, just to say, two can play at this game and you're not allowed to read my Blog.

It's the honor system. We don't quite have your IT budget. We certainly look forward to your cooperation,
Despondent in the USA

Ok, I Suppose I should be happy that Torchwood (Sci-fi with a lemon twist) is available here via BBC America's channel and leave it at that, but something's really wrong in this world if an American can't watch whatever he wants to, whenever he wants, global distribution rights be damned.

But I suppose what we see on the internet is turning into big business. Case in point, the writer's strike in Hollywood. According to Cynthia Littleton, a reporter for Daily Variety, this week's settlement between the writers and studios means money in the pockets of the writers. Another story I heard on the radio claimed writers would receive up to $1,200 each whenever an episode they worked on was posted on the web. When you consider how many writers it takes to write an episode of Lost or Heroes, then you know this is going to cost the studio a pretty penny to give away online what they've heretofore been giving away on TV. The cost of giving things away for free just keeps going up!

Of course, lots of people like to pay for these downcasts, er, podcasts. I've never considered paying for something I'd end up watching on a tiny handheld, when I could get the same thing for free on my DVR and watch it on a large screen. With the right aspect ratio even.

But maybe the studios have already figured out another way to turn the screws on us.

I mean, besides American Idol.