The Chicago Tribune article Online view closest to being there by Barbara Rose discusses the practice of using webcams to monitor your pet, children, and property. Citing a Parks Associates study, approximately 1.1 million US households currently do this, and that number is projected to grow to 3.7 million by 2010. (For a total of about 3% of US households.)
You can jump on the bandwagon now by reading my article Home Petcams Made Easy.