[mythtv-users] Myth HD - requirements?

[Daniel Kristjansson]

On Tue, 2006-07-18 at 16:12 -0600, John P Poet wrote:
> On 7/18/06, Greg Oliver <goliver at cistera.com> wrote:
> > You can call Comcast - there is an FCC ruling that forces them to give
> > you a firewire enabled box for OTA channels at a minimum.  All other
> > channels they can encrypt at their leisure..
> Yup, did that.  They just shrugged, and stared at me, like "What are
> you going to do about it?"

Your best bet is to go to your city or state regulator. They have the
power to kick Comcast out of your city or state, resp. When some friends
of mine couldn't get cable in an area of NYC that was supposed to be
served, they had the state regulator get serious with the local
monopoly. They were tearing up the street the next day so they could
deliver the service. This was after months of empty promises.

Just get Comcast to say "no" at several different levels of support,
write down the dates you talked with them and what they said, and
then call up the regulator with all your info. Since there are two
levels of regulation you have some hope that one of them will respond.

If the regulator doesn't respond get an appointment with your local
US Representative and your US Senators. A quick talk with them can do
wonders, and you would be surprised how easy it is to get the first
15 minutes of their time. Prices go up considerably for additional
time. The local State Attorney General can also help, but their
responsiveness depends on their funding sources and their plans for
higher office. In New York they get most of their money from landlords,
who are for suffer the caprices of the cable companies like the rest
of us.

-- Daniel