Comments on: Claim: access to cable Playboy Channel caused pain, anguish

By: Dirk D

Dirk D — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:02:59 +0000

“Verizon will never stop broadcasting the channel into their home as they send every channel everywhere.”

I smell a 23(b)(3) in the works.

By: Mark Biggar

Mark Biggar — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:55:00 +0000

Actually there is confusion about how Cable TV works. Verizon will never stop broadcasting the channel into their home as they send every channel everywhere. What they would do is to disable the decryption of that channel in the cable box.

By: gitarcarver

gitarcarver — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:32:38 +0000

Pat,
I agree they would have had to turn the box to that channel. If you read my original post, I am against any damages for medical issues. However, once again, the family lived up to the letter and the spirit of the service agreement with Verizon. Whether their objections to the channel were moral or ethical, Verizon had a duty to stop the channel from being broadcast into the home. If you have ever talked to a cable service rep, you know how frustrating it can be. This family tried for 4 months to get Verizon to stop sending the channel into their home. Their objection may be on moral grounds that the channel is pornographic. It may be on the grounds that they were receiving a channel they did not pay for and felt they could be accused of stealing it. It could be that they didn’t want their records to show that they had ever received the channel. Whatever the reason, they didn’t want the channel. I wonder how much time they spent with Verizon trying to resolve this. That time has a value. There is a stress associated with dealing with companies that demand you live up to your end of the service agreement, but do not live up to their end of it.

This never should have gotten to the point where the family felt the only way to get Verizon to stop broadcasting the channel into their home was to sue. That it did get this far is totally the fault of Verizon.

By: PatW

PatW — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:38:13 +0000

All that you said I agree is true. However, my point is that simply recieving a porn channel causes zero harm- it’s the watching of that channel that would cause hypothetical harm, albeit non-monetary. To watch that channel, they had to take action- they had to tune the box to that channel.

By: gitarcarver

gitarcarver — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:54:40 +0000

PatW,
You must actively choose what to watch. Do you not know that?

You must also actively choose which channels are distributed to your house (whether as part of a package or as in this case, a specific pay channel that must be requested by the account holder.) The family was receiving a channel they did not want and had not requested against their will and against every standard cable and satellite contract I have ever seen. Verizon apparently agreed several times to stop sending the pay channel their way and yet never did.

The family did everything right within the service agreement. You can’t turn this around and then blame them.

By: gitarcarver

gitarcarver — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:44:03 +0000

Frank,
i don’t know enough about how cable works to understand this.
The channel in question is a pay channel – just like HBO, Cinemax, etc. Normally, the patron has to request it. This is not a standard channel.

David,
Why did the family keep watching the Playboy Channel if it disturbed them so much?
Who said they were watching it? It was being sent into their home against their wishes. We can sit here and say they should have blocked it at the box, but why should they? Verizon is making the error here and yet people are blaming the family for not wanting this channel being broadcast into their home. I wouldn’t want the risk of kids or some baby sitter guessing the password to unblock the channel at the box. The family didn’t want it coming into their home and had requested Verizon disable it.

As to why, who know? Who cares? The fact of the matter is that if they had been getting this channel and not notified Verizon, they could and would be accused of cable theft. It is wrong for Verizon to hold an account holder accountable for “stealing” the channel, and then turn around and not prevent the channel from being broadcast into their home after being notified multiple times. Also, I can see the family not wanting this channel on their cable records.

Also, the suit alleges that “Verizon is breaking Rhode Island’s obscenity statutes §§ 11-31-1 and 11-31-10, which outlaw promotion of obscene material and the distribution of “naked” content to minor.”

This is Verizon’s screw up. They had a chance to make things right the first time the family called. If something like this were not resolved in 4 months, I would be upset with Verizon as well. They promised a service as part of their contract with the family multiple times and failed to provide it.

By: PatW

PatW — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:43:29 +0000

Gitarcarver-
They tried for four months to have the pay per view channel that Verizon admitted was wrongly showing up on their screens blocked.

This statement appears to prove that you have no clue how television works, which is amazing, unless you live in zimbabwe. Nothing on TV “shows up on your screen”. You must actively choose what to watch. Do you not know that?

By: David Wisniewski

David Wisniewski — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:51:31 +0000

Gitarcarver – Why did the family keep watching the Playboy Channel if it disturbed them so much? Why don’t you post under your real name?

By: wfjag

wfjag — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:22:49 +0000

I always wondered what happened to the old Married With Children viewers. Instead of talking about Biggens, they now watch them — and their eyes are melting!

By: Todd Rogers

Todd Rogers — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:46:22 +0000

First, it’s not about the money…it’s about protecting the kids. Next, in order to make any sense out of this, one must first dismiss the uncontrollable desire to leverage current neuro-reasoning pathways. Finally, inadvertent viewing of Barney or American Idol can be just as damning to one’s psyche as viewing a little T&A.