A local user issues recording instructions via the Internet to a remote computing device. The remote recording device records broadcast programs available to it according to the received recording instructions, and compresses and encodes the recorded program into a specified media format. 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.