 swintecPremium,VIP
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME
kudos:3
 ·RapidVPS
 ·Sprint Mobile Br..
 ·VoicePulse
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to Morac
Re: Stupid TiVo said by Morac:forces their customers to user their STBs. Not at all. If you go to your cable providers website, and type in your zip code, you can find the address of your local office. Go there and they will take your boxes and cancel your account for you.
Satellite "forces" you to use a box as well...no complaints about them doing that?
--
BlockNews.Net- Quality Usenet Block Accounts |
|
 Morac
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ
kudos:1
·Comcast
2 edits | Why should I have to cancel, when the problem was caused by the cable companies violating FCC regulations and then bypassing the regulations on a technicality when they couldn't get their waivers and finally refusing to certify any cableCARD device as 2-way unless it uses OCAP?
Satellite isn't bound by the FCC regulations and there is no "cableCARD" for satellite so that is a red herring. Thanks for playing though. |
|
swintecPremium,VIP
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME
kudos:3 Reviews:
·RapidVPS
·Sprint Mobile Br..
·VoicePulse
·RoadRunner Cable
| Thats the problem, there is regs for cable, but not for satellite. I'll concede about satellite for now, based on the technical aspects of it.
Why should you cancel? The answer is simple. You have seemed to develop the thought that cable TV is necessary for you to live. It isn't. Why should there be these insane regs put on cable companies? They are there own companies that built there own networks...they are out to make a profit. Sure they make a decent one, and why shouldn't they enjoy the fruits of there labor? It's a pretty decent business don't you think? Now because of this you expect the government to step in, mandate another handout and stop the progress of technology??
To borrow a thought from the late Joe Dirt, I hate to tell you, the cable companies arent a charity, maybe one day UNICEF will start offering cable service to your house, until then, tough rocks.
--
BlockNews.Net- Quality Usenet Block Accounts |
|
Morac
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ
kudos:1 Reviews:
·Comcast
| Read this article, it explains things better than I can. Basically put though, you wouldn't allow your cable company to force you to rent a computer from them to access the Internet or only allow you to surf with a cable company approved web browser so why should TV be any different (it runs over the same wires)?
The main difference between cable companies and other businesses is that pretty much every cable company started out as a legal monopoly. This was changed in 1996 by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which was designed to promote competition in exchange for removing the regulation of cable prices, but until very recently it basically worked in reverse with a lot of small monopolistic cable companies being bought out by larger ones. Most of the remaining cable companies are de facto monopolies. Monopolies are generally not good for consumers.
--
The Comcast Disney Avatar has been retired. |
|
wierdo
join:2001-02-16
Tulsa, OK Reviews:
·Cox HSI
·T-Mobile US
| reply to swintec
said by swintec:Satellite "forces" you to use a box as well...no complaints about them doing that? Dish Network shouldn't be allowed to do it. They use open standards for everything. A standard DVB-S receiver would have no problem tuning their stuff if they'd let you use one with one of their access cards.
DirecTV, on the other hand, uses a system that was designed before such a standard existed. At least they have a decent excuse.
We just have a bunch of monopolizing bastards running the media show in this country, and they've gotten it in their heads that forcing you to use (and pay for) their box does something for customer loyalty.
The only loyalty I have is TiVo. Without it, TV is nearly unbearable. |
|
