"all digital" somehow synonymous with "encrypted"?
I notice that I can't receive basic cable on my TV's that do not have a set top box (STB) anymore. When I signed up for Cox last year, the salesperson assured me that "all digital" just meant that I could no longer use my analog TV's without a cable box, but that my TV's with a QAM digital tuner would continue to function the same as they always have. A few months back, Cox insisted that I get a "mini box" for free (for a year), so I signed up for one, and have attached it to one of the TV's. It works fine, but I have two others that are now connected to my rooftop antenna. In addition, I notice that the channels that used to be analog are still analog picture (NTSC). In my area, that includes, but is not limited to, channels like Bloomberg. So as far as I can tell, Cox claimed to be switching to all digital, when in fact, they simply encrypted the signal, but they are still providing many channels of analog NTSC content. I saw some other posts in this forum that suggested that the FCC had "mandated" that providers *could* encrypt. But the word "could" cancels out the word "mandate". Thus the meaning is that the FCC has "allowed" cable providers to encrypt. Being allowed to do something does not make it a requirement, or a mandate. I guess my question is, why did they say "all didgital" when in fact, they meant "all encrypted"? The two are distinctly different from a technical perspective. Adding encryption forces us to get additional mini boxes in order to keep getting the same level of service that we were getting before the "transition". After the first mini box, you have to pay a monthly fee. Which means that effectively, encryption amounts to a price hike, in the middle of my three year commitment. Unilaterally changing the terms of service during the period of performance of a contract constitutes a breach. What are my remedies?13KViews1like28Comments
