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Originally Posted by cyan
The money you give your cable or satellite provider goes to the provider iteself, to finance their operations, not the network. Network television generates revenue through advertising, not from the content providers and your subscription fees. The exception to that is obviously ad-free channels, such as HBO and PPV.
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Incorrect. You cable provider pays the various networks for programming. In fact that's why you can't buy channels a la carte. Companies that own more than one station bundle programming together and require your provider to pay for channels they don't want in order to get ones they do. There was recently a court case against I believe Disney. They own ESPN and won't let cable providers purchase access to just ESPN. De-regulation at it's finest.
However, I do agree that it should be just as legal to download a TV show as it is to record it off the TV. When I pay for my TV service, I'm paying for the right to view the content. It shouldn't matter how I get that content. When I pay for BBC America, I'm paying to watch Top Gear. It shouldn't matter if I'm recording it on my DVR or on my computer hard drive.