[markthefixer]

I have a lot to say about that but I will stick to ONE point that has lost ground in the recent past, the supreme court upholding eminent domain comdemnation of private property for PRIVATE use when there will be an increase in the tax recipts for that property..
The loss of use of our "free" tv's is a "taking" which is a legal concept which can be traced back to the 4th amendment, the seizure part.
Old example: near an air force base the fighter planes were scaring the farmers chickens and they stopped laying eggs... He sued and won under that principle.

Congress is "taking" the public airwaves, and they know it.. as they are trying to appease the public by providing the "poor" with ONE converter...
If they get away with that instead of one converter for ANY working set for free... welll.......

Imagine changing the fuel available for our cars, so that if we don't get a converter, the cars we have won't work... but after we get the converter they will work "better"... they couldn't get away with that.....
...

BUT They have a precident.... they took channels 70 through 83 in the uhf band years ago and gave it to the cellular phone bands....
They enacted the electronic communications privacy act which then made it a crime to listen in on them (800 mhz) although it was VERY easy.
Later they banned the manufacturing of any scanner that could receive the specific parts of that band which were cellular (which is why scanners have several "holes" in their published specs.

Not everyone wants to (or can) pay the cable or satellite company to supply the available programming...

When I moved I "dropped" cable ( I had it if for many years) and invested in a roof antenna 12 years ago.

I HATED the way the cable companies jerked me around, like i was a captive "audience" (consumer?). Just as bad as the phone companies were and sbc is now.....