Legal dispute could increase cost of digital TV

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Business Writer, Technology / Telecom

(AP) -- A small Pennsylvania company's patent lawsuits could hamstring the government's $1.5 billion effort to make the transition to digital television easier on consumers' wallets.

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Posted by jburchel 04/16/08 19:54

Rank: 2/5 after 1 vote

The government (not their money anyway) doesn't owe anybody a free digital converter box... Any TV bought in the last 10 years doesn't need one anyway, so for the miniscule percentage of households holding onto the old technology, they can pay just like everybody else did to get a newer TV, or just opt not to watch it. I'm sick of other people deciding how money I earned should be used. If I want to give to charity, I can do that, but stealing it out of my pocket and giving it away to someone else is not charitable; it is little more than theft.

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Posted by AJW 04/17/08 09:00

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We are a nation of laws? Are all laws logical? Consistent?
When any government writes a law or rule requiring a patented technology let it also buy the patent.
Anyway the supposed saving to consumers
is not the cost of a new TV. It is the
not buying another Betamax.

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Posted by ShadowRam 04/17/08 15:43

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Get rid of the patent system. Its a hindrance and helps NO one.