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.