A local user issues recording instructions via the Internet to a remote computing
device. The remote recording device includes a computer daughter board that records
broadcast programs available to it according to the received recording instructions
and encodes the recorded program into a specified media format. The daughter board
further adds a first field identifying the user and a second field listing some
of the received recording instructions on the recording. If the recording is video,
then the fields are placed on visible sections of the recording. The file holding
the encoded broadcast program may be subdivided into multiple smaller files before
being moved into another computer specified by the user and accessible via the
Internet. The remote computing device may receive recording instruction via a pulse
telephone and may be incorporated into existing video cassette recorders.