🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <4p5m5h$rnm@news.greatbasin.net>,
 <Deborah@finetouch.silver-springs.nv.us> wrote:
: 
: Why would you buy the equipment if you had no intentions of using it
: to view what it was set up for? To sit on your entertainment center so
: your friends THINK you subscribe to pay stations!?? 


I think you're confusing cable descramblers with "black boxes".  They
are the same equipment, but the difference is that black boxes are cable
descramblers that are "fixed" to receive pay channels without being
programmed legitimately by the cable provider.  These boxes are normally
sold out of vans and trucks, or privately from person to person, and are
indeed illegal in many states.

Cable descramblers that are not "fixed", on the other hand, are
perfectly legal to buy, sell, and use, as long as you notify the cable
provider that you own it and you pay for the services you receive with
it.

As for why anyone would want to buy their own descrambler, the answer is
simple: to save monthly rental charges for the box that the local
provider gives you.  Even though rental charges are low compared to the
overall service, if you consider paying these charges over a long term,
say five or ten years, buying a legitimate desrambler is cheaper in the
long run.  For some people, such as myself, the desire not to give these
companies more money than is absolutely necessary plays into it as well.
;)




-- 
               Paul T. Brown    buckweat@ecst.csuchico.edu  
Chico State Computer Science    http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~buckweat
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"It's amazing how much you forget when you turn 21." -- My Father