From: rick@posms.cactus.org (Rick Kirchhof)
Subject: Re: Request Satellite Codes
Organization: Department of Redundancy Dept., Austin
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 05:28:56 GMT

In article <01050027.i345fy@fractal.fractal.com> fractal@fractal.com (Tom Hedges) writes:
>The issue that matters most to me is the unfair pricing policies of
>the vertical monopolies that control most of the scrambled programming.
>The Cable TV Act of 1992 which fortunately was passed in spite of
>a veto by soon-to-be-ex-president (but not soon enough for me!) Bush,
>is supposed to end this ripoff by requiring fair pricing of scrambled
>services to home dish owners.
>
>I, for one, am willing to pay for programming - but I should pay
>significantly less than I would pay a cable TV company because
>I provide my own hardware, thus all the money the cable company needs
>for their dishes, transmission facilities, maintainance, store fronts,
>profit, ect., can be passed back to me in the form of lower prices
>and yet the originator of the programming will still receive as much
>return. This what would have happened naturally in a non-monopoly free
>enterprise marketplace, but under Reagan-Bush monopoly business practices
>were overlooked by the Commerce Department, if not downright encouraged.
>As a result most programming providers have an inappropriate financial
>incentive (i.e. they own cable TV franchises) to encourage cable TV sales
>by screwing home satellite users with prices several times higher than
>they charge cable TV companies.
>
>You can complain about GI all you want, but they are small potatos
>compared to the programming providers and their monopolies. The next
>legislative step should be forcable divesting of all cable TV franchises
>by any corporation that provides programming nationwide. This would
>once and for all end the conflict of interest.
>
>Another area where the pricing policies should be improved is for
>those well-heeled people who own multiple IRD's and thus want to own
>several descramblers. Pricing here should follow cable TV practice:
>the first descrambler pays based on what programming is ordered, and
>each additional descrambler is a flat, reasonable extra fee, maybe
>$3.00 a month. The videopal/MOM phone port could be used to interconnect
>the descramblers and assure they indeed were really at the same location
>(this of course is where there is a opportunity for fraud).
>
>-------------------------------------
>Tom Hedges
>fractal@fractal.com --or-- fractal@applelink.apple.com

I also purchase VC scrambled programming, and have since the process
began.  I agree with nearly all of what you say.  There is one small
economic point though.  If I as a cable or wireless cable system operator
buy 43,000 units of HBO for my 43,000 HBO subscribers, there is *one*
bill to one programmer paid.

If you, as an individual consumer, deal with HBO or any 
subdistributor of HBO (or any other programmer), you will usually 
have one subscriber unit per billing address.  I also fall into this
group.

General office overhead also includes the need to explain your bill to
you, reauthorize your unit when you turn it off during monthly data
updates, troubleshoot non-VC related local equipment failure on your
site, and advertise to you because you don't know where to find the
programmer or his agent.  Don't forget minor expenses like postage and
printing either.

I don't mean that no programmer ever overcharges.  I also don't like
paying more than cable systems do.  I *do* get much more for $19.95 per
month from my package than either the hard wired or the wireless cable
systems here offer.

There is no question that there is some room for competition.  Don't hold
your breath for absolute price equality in single consumer units though.
My point is simply that if you want wholesale pricing, be prepared to
consume wholesale volume.

-- 
Rick Kirchhof   Austin, Texas                   | Experience is what you
Domain: rick@posms.cactus.org                   | get when you don't
Bang path: ...!cs.utexas.edu!peyote!posms!rick  | get what you want.            
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Newsgroups: rec.video.satellite