Users of Windows Vista Media Centers who were blocked from recording two NBC shows last week are eager to learn why Microsoft is taking marching orders from broadcasters.

Microsoft is soon expected to explain why it inserted technology into its Vista operating system that blocked digital-TV viewers from recording their favorite shows. Their current excuse--that Microsoft adheres to regulations proposed by the Federal Communications Commission--makes little sense, as the only rules on controlling recording from broadcast TV were struck down by the courts in 2005.

The controversy began last week, when some Vista Media Center users trying to record from over-the-air digital or basic cable television discovered that they were barred from recording NBC TV shows American Gladiators and Medium.

In what for some was a stunning acknowledgment by Microsoft, the software maker said Windows Media Center honors the flags used by broadcasters to limit recording.

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