Flying in the face of those who think that cable operators are allowed to encrypt every channel….

Cablevision has petitioned the FCC for a waiver to do just that. Evidently it is argued that even the basic tier should encrypted to save money on truck rolls that are currently required to disconnect service. As usual, the FCC is requesting the comment of opposing views, so it’s not to late to be heard. But it seems to us that Cablevision is going to have a hard time arguing to protect these channels in the clear, when it’s the same channels you can get for free with an antenna. Add in all the customers who brought home a new TV and just plugged it into the cable and did a channel scan, and you have yourselves a waiver we’d like to see denied.

Tags: antenna, Cable, cable operators, Cablevision, Channel, channel scan, encrypt, engadget, face, FCC, Filed, Flying, hard time, hd, IndustryFlying, Mike, money, nbsp, new tv, opposing views, Read, tier, truck rolls, waiver