[edufur]

Originally Posted by srtpusher

i LOL @ this thread. i want all the channels directv has, but i only want to pay for basic service. i mean, why should i have to pay at all? the signal is already there.

if we are not careful (i think it is going to happen anyway), providers are going to give you exactly what people are asking for. people want to use as much data as they want and not pay for it. the reaction will be bucket data and bucket minutes. time warner had talked about it for roadrunner, at&t pulled the trigger for cell phones, verizon has stated on LTE, we will pay for the data that we use, and sprint alluded to this also. i can walk into a movie theater and let my friends into a movie through the back door. why should they pay? the movie is already playing and those seats would be empty otherwise.

this type of convoluted thinking that causes companies to either go bankrupt, or gouge existing, loyal customers. but then again, our society has become locusts and leeches and will screw a company and expect everything for nothing and then complain when the host is dead...

simply put, it comes down to whether you think the service has value and is worth paying for. obviously it has value, but some people are just too cheap to pay for it. if people would just pay for things rather than try to get one over on everyone, the world would have less problems.
/end rant

This is not a fair comparison. If one were to circumvent the blocked (unpaid) channels on directv, they would be in violation of criminal law. If the same were true for free tethering, it would not be legal for 3rd party software to be sold on the market place that does EXACTLY that. So, apples and oranges.