Actually , it would allow good features. I've been waiting for something like this. I hope we this on Dish DVR's very soon. The article further states that the patent would allow users to "allocate" space on the HDD per user. THIS IS A HUGE DEAL IN FAMILIES. Often (and I have spoken with parents with this issue), the teens set to record every episode of Seinfelf or whatever comedy on EVERY channel it airs. The parents, would often have to wast time deleting the show or putting a max number of recordings to be saved, but that would be later changed by you khow who. ALL of the parents I spoke with wanted some meand by which to control how much space on the HDD their sons or daughters couls use. This could be suppored using access codes known only to the parent(s). Yes, in my day, no such device required because our parents were of a different world and we did what we were told--OR ELSE. Todays parents have no such control as that and it is seen as being "abusive" to the child. So, in this modern world of modern parenting, this would be a great feature.