When cable TV consumers evade cable access fees by purchasing illegal "pirated" cable boxes, a vicious cycle results. The use of pirated cable boxes by consumers forces cable companies to raise rates, which, in turn, leads more consumers to purchase pirated cable boxes in order to receive free cable programming.

The cycle described above could not result unless which of the following were true?

An increase in cable TV rates causes some consumers to cancel their service or reduce the number of premium channels to which they subscribe.

Some methods for detecting and disabling pirated cable boxes are effective at forcing pirated cable TV consumers to pay user fees or forgo cable TV programming, although the success rates vary considerably.


When cable TV executives establish cable access fees in order to generate an acceptable level of profit, they do not adequately account for revenue that will be lost through pirated cable use.

No one who routinely uses illegal pirated cable boxes can be induced by lower cable access fees to stop using pirated cable boxes unless fines for the use of such boxes are raised at the same time.

Cable TV consumers do not differ with respect to the cable access fees that would cause them to consider purchasing illegal pirated cable boxes.