Planet Replay is a service I am not at all familiar with. After reading the article in Wired it made me understand why the site owner shut it down. I would be afraid also If I ran such a service with the way Media companies are in a feeding frenzy to prosecute and sue any site that helps facilitate sharing of copyright information even if the transaction is not physically happening on the site.
Best thing for him to do is sell the developed package to consumers and let them build private share list. Heck I could have my mom record Tech TV for me and I could play it even though I do not get the channel. The advertisers would win also as they would get exposure in markets that the channel is not being carried. [Wired]