Merely a technical detail of the implementation by Dish. And not really of concern to, or the business of, any outside party.

Tomorrow, Dish could lease bandwidth from some ultra cheap, high bandwidth satellite provider that would enable them to switch to video delivery via IP or whatever. That's not my business, or Fox's. The encrypted satellite up/downlinks are private communications channels for the exclusive use of Dish between their head end and set top boxes. What Fox, or Netflix, should pay for, is the service of delivering a video/audio stream to the HDMI port on the back of the STB.

The fact that Congress has a couple of morons who write laws based not upon a product or service, but one particular implementation of that is what hampers innovation.

"The beauty of a chainsaw is that you don't have to start it. Just show up with it."
-- Joe Walsh, on checking in to hotels

... if you've got all your cops surrounding the Ecuadorian Embassy, you don't have time for anything else.

Give them a rifle and send them to the front lines.

Personally, I find either brand to be unpalatable.

"Are you a cop? Or are you just some dangerous nutjob, lurking around my property armed? Think carefully about your answer. Very carefully."

Does this version sound any better?

Probably.

We'll see when Netflix starts charging Verizon and AT&T for distributing their content.

That doesn't make sense. What with broadband providers trying to squeeze all the money they can out of Netflix, Google and any other content providers. Just call it sattelite Internet service and charge Fox for the bandwidth.

NASA. The people that had to break a handle off the Hubble Space Telescope because they don't know basic mechanics' tricks for disassembling stuff.

ISS: "Could you please e-mail us the instructions for a wrench?"

Ground: "Please clarify. What kind of wrench do you need?"

ISS: "It doesn't matter. We are going to use it as a hammer."

I don't really understand the issues. How much was Dish charging Fox News to deliver their content to Dish viewers? And what sort of fee increases was Dish asking for?

When the nice Indian gentleman tells me that my computer has a virus I simply scream "OH MY GOD NO! NOT A VIRUS? Aaaaarggghhh!" and start making loud banging noises with my hand on the desk.

After a short moment I then say in a breathless voice "I have destroyed the computer, can you suggest a good place to buy a new one?"

That usually leaves them dazed and confused -- whereapon they hang up.

Lots of fun for all the family :-)

I still want to know what's behind the door

Right. This is of most interest to geeks anyway. And we understand that, looking through a round porthole, there's only so much you can do with a widescreen format.