From: "richard dabney" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, Aug 7, 2006 5:13 PM
Subject: Coupons should be available to all people for every TV

Since the DTV transition will obsolete all analog TV's and was not supported
by the majority of the American public, it is my opinion that everyone
should be able to receive a free converter box coupon for every analog TV
they own, regardless of whether they subscribe to satellite or cable, their
income level, or where they live. It was ludicrous in the first place for
the government to allow DTV to become the nation's first government-enabled
instance of planned obsolescence for an entire class of consumer products.
Therefore, the cost of providing the boxes should be fully covered by the
government and those electronics manufacturers who supported the
incompatible over-the-air DTV transmission system that was adopted by the
FCC. I have noticed that the introduction of new digital AM and FM HD radios
has not required broadcasters to drop their analog signals and render
obsolete all of the nation's radios. Therefore, it appears that similar
alternatives for digital television may have been available but were not
considered by the FCC, perhaps due to the FCC's plan to auction the original
analog spectrum. Perhaps it would be wiser to allow television stations to
maintain their analog services rather than proceed with the planned
phase-out and force everyone to use the converter boxes, which may cost as
much as the revenue produced by the planned spectrum auctions. In the long
run I think everyone would come out ahead and no one would be left feeling
ripped-off by the consumer electronics companies or the government agencies
involved.

Richard Dabney

Tanner, Alabama