Now come on, you have to be kidding me. Really, kidding. All of these companies blocking a harmless little device that allows people to take advantage of their money? No way, that's just insane!
True that it is a large business to be in, broadcasting, to the TV .. But I hope that they are aware, when it comes down to it, you can't hold the gates for long. There's always a way around something, and completely blocking it isn't going to stop those other solutions from entering. So why cause all the extra fuss? It's simple, companies already see the threat of Google - You know the take advantage of their money part? No doubt in my mind that if Google TV were to become a big trend, to that of Roku and many other outlets (MythTV, Netflix, etc), that just maybe cable companies would start to see a small decrease in their TV subscription base. It wouldn't be anytime soon either for other reasons.
(but) Let me take a step back and recap on my call-out to Comcast and their Fancast's lack-of-support methods. I asked several times for a Linux solution. What do you think happened (if it has, I missed it)? So, with that being said, it's not Google TV that is/would be killing TV, it's the people behind TV that is killing TV. It's no longer Television - It's Internetvision, and the sooner it's realised the easier the transition will be.
It doesn't hurt to come up with some new ideas that will make not only personal life, the entertainment part of life, the environmental life and, so on a lot easier. Of course these ideas can't affect the fact that advertisements will still be paid for and executed every X seconds of the day regardless if someone is actually watching them or not. Can't forget the miscounts of watched shows - and - definitely can't forget that there is other major opportunity out there, but missed by the tight-schedules of traditional television.
Major works is being missed here. Musicians, Photographers, everyone is being missed in the traditional Television area. TV has been stripped down over the years. You thought 1 channel that went off at night was bad, well think of this as the "You watch what we want, pay what we want, and only see what we want you to see." This is on all given channels - Not really wanting to pay for it now, are you? Sure, it has expanded and the media industry in general has went with it - Think very clearly of what direction it is heading since this event.
One company can be just told off like that? Is that truly what kind of media are you paying for? You already paid for the TV service (well .. most), and can't enjoy the shows better by being able to watch them, or record them (Dreaded DVR service)?--perhaps anywhere, in the world? No. You can't.
Best of luck.