What's interesting though is how this is what Google TV was cut off from doing. Networks wouldn't be able to tell you were mirroring in this fashion. If Apple redesigned the remote app to allow access your to Mac's screen, this would rock. They could even offer some of the functionality of Google TV in this way...
Google never really tried to work "with" the TV networks. Google tried to make it easy for the consumer to watch the TV shows that networks were willingly posting for free on their websites, using the consumer's TV. The TV networks know that anyone can do this themselves by plugging their computer into the TV directly with a video cable, but most people don't go to the trouble, so they never saw that as a major threat. But google TV made it "too easy", allowing you to do a search, have the internet version of that show pop up on the screen, and using your google TV remote to select, play, pause etc. The networks, nervous and cautious about protecting their advertising revenue by controlling their content distribution, weren't ready for that step. They wanted to be more in control of how and when their shows came to TV sets via the internet, and Google was doing it on its own terms. Hence, they got spooked and blocked Google TV.
Airplay mirroring from a mac would indeed do more-or-less the same thing Google TV tried to do, by letting consumers watch the free streaming version of TV shows on their big TVs without hooking up their computer via video cables. BUT it doesn't make it QUITE as easy as google tv made it. You can't (without jailbreaking) use your physical remote to select a website-based TV show and just press play. You would have to enable Airplay mirroring on your mac, then control your mac (not the Apple TV) to move the mouse, navigate the web, and play the show. One could argue that this is no different than using a video cable to connect your mac to the TV, it's just that the Apple TV basically BECOMES that video cable.
So the question is, how will the networks respond? I see two possible options: 1. they try to disable the functionality for streaming their shows, like Hulu+ has done with iPad mirroring. 2. They do nothing, and allow it.
The optimist in me is betting on #2. Since you could argue airplay mirroring from the mac is functionally no different than mirroring your mac screen over an HDMI cable, if the networks aren't threatened by people hooking up their computers to a TV, they shouldn't be threatened by people using Airplay mirroring in the same way.
Also, apparently this airplay-like functionality has existed for some time in the PC world (You always see those microsoft ads where people send the zombie movie they are watching on their laptop to their TV). What has the TV networks response to that been? (I actually don't know: do they ignore it or somehow disable their websites when mirroring is operating?)
TV. The current one has capped output at 720p (1280 x 720). There have been growing expectations of a new model now that Apple has finally embraced 1080p in the iPhone 4S. Are there any Mac's still limited to 1280 x 720 or less? Maybe this rumor- if true- is another sign a new 1080p-capable 
