An article in USA today reminded me to comment on something potentially significant this year that could change things in television forever.

Cable companies have dictated what our television experience is by keeping any foreign boxes off their systems. They can do this because they own the software that decodes cable signals. As a result, you have to get a cable box from the cable company to see programs. You can't buy a TiVo or Media Center PC with the descrambling capabilities built in.

But there is a provision in the 1996 Telecommunications Act that says cable companies will have to unbundle the system by sharing the descrambling code with other device makers. The cable industry has gotten deadline extensions ever since 1996, but the current extension runs out on July 1, and the FCC doesn't want to allow another one.

One certain outcome: TiVo and Microsoft will be able to sell boxes that connect to the cable line and the Internet. A device like that can pull in cable channels, Web-based video and downloadable movies, mix them all together and present them on screen in a single menu.

You can see why Comcast despises that because they Lose Control of the viewing experience.