# Is unrequested, unpaid-for cable TV legal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 1, 2004, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-unrequested-unpaid-for-cable-tv-legal/237654 "2004-04-01T02:51:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-unrequested-unpaid-for-cable-tv-legal/237654/61 "2014-01-21T23:59:52Z")
zombie or no is it wrong if you don’t enjoy the shows? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-unrequested-unpaid-for-cable-tv-legal/237654/62 "2014-01-22T00:15:15Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > zombie or no > > is it wrong if you don’t enjoy the shows? That’s like saying - “It wasn’t adultery because I didn’t enjoy it.” ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-unrequested-unpaid-for-cable-tv-legal/237654/63 "2014-01-22T00:23:06Z")
It’s not necromancy if I didn’t look at the post date. ---
**Author:** ![weemart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@weemart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/weemart)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-unrequested-unpaid-for-cable-tv-legal/237654/64 "2014-01-22T00:28:42Z")
How would this sort of thing affect UK TV licensing laws? Any1 know? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-unrequested-unpaid-for-cable-tv-legal/237654/65 "2014-01-22T01:07:24Z")
Years ago I was in a meeting at major manufacturer of cable equipment and happened to mention that I plugged the wire directly into my TV. A hush fell over the room for a second but then they said it was the cable company’s responsibility to turn off the service. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-unrequested-unpaid-for-cable-tv-legal/237654/66 "2014-01-22T03:39:20Z")
I moved into a house in 1983. It had been a student rental for the prior 10 years (yes, it did look like it). There was a coax about 30’ long coming in at the mid-point between LR and DR. I went outside and pulled it out as far as possible. About 2005, I hear an odd noise comingg from the front of the house. I find an ATT guy disconnecting the cable. He said something stupid about “no more free cable”, but there was no hint that they would try to bill. The way the conversation went, I think I was supposed to panic and agree to whatever terms he demanded to keep him from cutting off my can’t-live-without-it TV. When I moved in, I did not have a TV. Eventually I got one with rabbit ears - it was in the back of the house. I never thought to connect it to the cable. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-unrequested-unpaid-for-cable-tv-legal/237654/67 "2014-01-22T04:25:42Z")
> [@weemart](#): > > How would this sort of thing affect UK TV licensing laws? Any1 know? Not legally relevant at all. In the UK, you need to have a licence for a set on which you watch broadcast television, but the mode of broadcasting - terrestrial, satellite, cable, internet - is irrelevant. Consequently connecting to or disconnecting from cable makes no difference at all to your liablity to pay for the licence. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-unrequested-unpaid-for-cable-tv-legal/237654/68 "2014-01-22T04:33:12Z")
This whole situation is becoming less likely now, ten years later, because basic cable is allowed to be encrypted. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-unrequested-unpaid-for-cable-tv-legal/237654/69 "2014-01-22T08:18:13Z")
What if the cable company is providing an extra tier of channels, or premium channels such as Showtime or HBO, that you didn’t pay for? Are you legally obligated to inform them? ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-unrequested-unpaid-for-cable-tv-legal/237654/70 "2014-01-22T18:04:06Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > This whole situation is becoming less likely now, ten years later, because basic cable is allowed to be encrypted. Many of the channels are not. For example, I get cable internet. I do not pay for cable TV, but I do get about 40 channels if I plug the cable into my TV. I do not think that they cable company can even do anything about this. Unless they encrypt it, they can’t stop the signal from coming down the wire. This doesn’t matter much to me because I watch TV about once a year and the way the TV interprets the channels is all wacky, scattered, and slow. If I actually watched it, I would definitely want a cable box to pretty up the channel organization. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-unrequested-unpaid-for-cable-tv-legal/237654.md?page=3)