Ok, so there seemed to be a lot of confusion with Tivo's policy regarding getting rid of their lifetime subscription. The old policy was:
-If you had an activated box, you must subscribe by 3/15 (which was then extended to 3/18)to upgrade to lifetime.
-If you had an unactivated or box bought by 3/15, you had until 4/15 to activate Lifetime Service.

NEW DETAILS:
Everyone, including current subscribers, has until 4/15/06 to purchase lifetime subscription. You can buy a unit from now until 4/15 and still qualify.

From Tivo Mktg:
We appreciate the feedback and apologize if some of our agents are providing inaccurate information.

We know that there have been retail advertisements which refer to product lifetime, and there have been requests here for a longer opportunity to purchase lifetime before it's discontinued. As a result, we have decided to offer product lifetime as a subscription option through 4/15/06, even for those that have purchased since 3/15 (you do have to call to activate lifetime service though, and lifetime is not applicable for systems purchased via a bundle plan).

Our customer service team is being updated today, so please wait until later today or tomorrow and call back once the message has been delivered to all the agents.

Nice, thanks OP. Lol, I bet all those people who bought lifetime gift cards on eBay for new boxes are kicking themselves!

Thanks for this info - I had called on 3/20 to get my bought-before-3/16 Tivo activated with a lifetime subscription and the CSR insisted that the monthly fee was my only option.

Now I can call back and get my lifetime.

Do you have a link to this anywhere? I am going to bite the bullet if I have tangible proof. Not doubting you, just would like to have something to back myself up just in case.

Lifetime is for the specific unit that you bought, the machine that is. It does not refer to the person.

Yes you fork out $199 for the box, but receive $150 back via rebate.

Spartan, the quote I gave is directly from the head of Tivo Mktg. Please see Summary of TiVo's new pricing announcements as per Tivocommunity.com