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DISH

Dear Subscriber,

The New York State legislature is considering a NEW tax that will force you to pay 5% more EVERY month for the DISH service you love.

In this economy, many New York families have cut back on eating out, going to the movies, and attending sporting events, but they can still go home and rely on their favorite television programming for affordable entertainment. Why do your legislators want to tax the one affordable thing they have left?

And for those families who rely on DISH for foreign language programming, this tax punishes them simply for enjoying TV in their own language!

If you don't think it is fair to burden New York families with higher taxes just for watching satellite TV, contact your legislators and tell them: NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO TAX YOUR TV!

Click HERE to use our simple e-mail tool to tell your legislators to balance their budget without busting yours!

Sincerely,

DISH

If the link does not direct you to the correct page, please copy and paste the link below into your browser:

»www.capwiz.com/stopsatel ··· type=ML

For more information visit www.stopthetvtax.com

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NEW YORK – DirecTV satellite subscribers around the country will continue to receive network TV stations owned by Hearst Corp. after the two companies reached a new deal over the fees that DirecTV pays the broadcasting company to carry stations on its lineup.

The original deal would have expired at midnight Friday, and subscribers in Boston, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and other markets could have lost Hearst-owned stations on DirecTV.

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Official statement from DIRECTV - »www.directv.com/pricecha ··· ase.pdf

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By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 9/24/2009 6:07:38 PM EDT

Cablevision Systems has filed a request with the Federal Communications Commission seeking an exemption to the agency's rules prohibiting the encryption of basic broadcast channels, arguing that scrambling the full digital TV lineup would cut costs and deter signal theft.

According to the operator's filing, last year it performed more than 1 million truck rolls associated with physically activating or deactivating service using drops, steps it must take to prevent against unauthorized distribution because the programming is available "in the clear."

"Encryption of broadcast basic would allow Cablevision to keep its plant ‘hot,' to perform connections and disconnections remotely, and thereby eliminate many truck rolls and service appointments for new and discontinuing customers," Cablevision said.

Cablevision asked for a waiver covering its New York City franchise areas.

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Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 3/23/2009 5:08:52 PM MT

The National Football League has reached a four-year contract extension with DirecTV to remain the TV home of the Sunday Ticket package through 2014.

Announced Monday during the NFL owners meeting in Dana Point, Calif., the pay-per-view pact, according to sources familiar with the negotiations, is valued at about $1 billion annually from 2011-2014. DirecTV currently pays some $700 million annually on its Sunday Ticket contract that expires after the 2010 season.

Both the NFL and DirecTV declined to discuss financial terms.

However, the agreement opens the door to a wider reach for the out-of-home package, which will become available to broadband subscribers that can't receive DirecTV. The satellite leader will aim this broadband game service at those who reside in multi-unit dwellings or DirecTV customers with poor exposure to a satellite signal.

This broader broadband service, according to league officials, would kick off no later than 2012. Currently, broadband coverage of the games is limited to those who purchase Sunday Ticket, and then pay an additional $99 for the broadband Super Fan package.

Full Story from Multichannel News

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WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- A decades-old complex network of cable and satellite copyright licenses for paid TV will get a second look in Congress this year, causing lobby shops throughout the industry to gear up their war rooms.

A small portion of the license regime, governing distant channels offered by satellite TV, expires in December. As lawmakers look to reauthorize it, some are calling for a complete overhaul of the licensing system, which opens the possibility for new winners and losers in the sector.

At hearings Wednesday, representatives from the cable industry called for a light touch in changing what they admitted is an antiquated system.

"Be very careful," cautioned National Cable and Telecommunications Association President Kyle McSlarrow at a House Judiciary Committee hearing. "Even though it may look arcane, if you step back and ask the question, 'Is the consumer being served?' Yes. 'Are distributors being helped?' Yes. 'Are copyright holders being compensated fairly?' Our answer would be yes."

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By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 7/29/2008 5:00:00 PM

DirecTV this Friday will launch foreign-film on demand network Eurocinema as part of its DirecTV-on-demand platform.

The distribution deal puts the Eurocinema on demand service, which features contemporary and classic foreign movie titles as well as prize winners at worldwide festivals, in front of some 20 million cable and satellite subscribers, according to the service.

Some of the titles set to launch on Eurocinema include German-based Summer ’04, Le Petit Lieutenant from France and Under The Moonlight from Iran.

The satellite service launched its on-demand service in June, offering customers more than 4,000 standard-definition and HDTV titles.

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Satellite Today 07-21-08 DirecTV taken on-orbit delivery of the DirecTV 11 satellite, spacecraft manufacturer Boeing Co. announced July 21.

DirecTV plans to use the satellite, placed in orbit in March by Sea Launch, to expand its line-up of high-definition services up to 150 national and local channels in at least 100 markets by this fall.

»www.satellitetoday.com/s ··· 09.html

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[Satellite Today 07-16-08] Sea Launch launched the EchoStar 11 broadcast satellite, the company’s fourth mission of the year, Sea Launch announced July 16.

Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) manufactured the satellite, which will be placed at 110° West to support the expansion of Dish Network’s capacity throughout the United States.

The satellite deployed its solar arrays and is performing post-launch maneuvers on schedule, SS/L announced.

»www.satellitetoday.com/c ··· 682.html

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[Satellite Today 07-17-08] Dish Network’s EchoStar 2 satellite “experienced a substantial failure that appears to have rendered the satellite a total loss,” Dish said in a July 14 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

EchoStar 2, launched in September 1996, has been operating at 148° West primarily as a back-up satellite but had provided local network channel service to Alaska and six other small markets, Dish said. All programming and other services were restored to EchoStar 1, the primary satellite at the orbital slot. EchoStar 2 carried a book value of about $6.4 million at the end of June, Dish said.

Sea Launch placed the EchoStar 11 satellite in orbit for Dish Network July 15.

»www.satellitetoday.com/s ··· 690.html

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Last Update: 7/04 7:53 pm

A Colerain Township lawmaker has proposed legislation to end a sales tax that satellite TV customers pay in Ohio.

Republican Louis Blessing introduced the bill in the Ohio house this week.

House Bill 599 would eliminate the sales tax that satellite TV customers have been paying since 2003.

If it's approved, the move would save the average customer an estimated $43 per year.

»www.wcpo.com/news/local/ ··· 9ea0730

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