Microsoft has acknowledged that Windows Media Centers will block users from recording TV shows at the request of a broadcaster.

“Microsoft included technologies in Windows based on rules set forth by the (Federal Communications Commission), As part of these regulations, Windows Media Center fully adheres to the flags used by broadcasters and content owners to determine how their content is distributed and consumed.”

The software company was responding to questions about why some users of Windows Vista Media Center were prevented from recording NBC Universal TV shows, American Gladiator and Medium on Monday night.

The “rules,” in which the spokeswoman is apparently referring to are those proposed by the FCC, which would require software and hardware makers to honor “broadcast flags.” The flags are code that broadcasters can insert into the data stream of TV shows that typically require restrictions on the recording of the shows. What she didn’t say is that the “rules” aren’t rules at all.