I'm as Mad as Hell, and I'm Not Gonna Take It Anymore

Most broadcast policy wonks I've talked to agree that the HDTV transition is among the most misbegotten schemes in that sphere ever to make it from a lobbyist's fevered daydreams to actual policy. In a country where some 85 percent of households are hooked up to cable or satellite, Congress has decided to hand the French Riviera of spectrum over to incumbent broadcasters—spectrum that might be used instead for, say, wireless Internet applications or communications for emergency workers—so that they can give us… high resolution Friends reruns. Over the air, that is: Anyone who cares that much about counting the pores on Joey Treviano's nose can already pony up for cable. HDTV was a scam broadcasters pushed to reserve valuable spectrum, and as occasional Reason contributor Drew Clark explains in this National Journal piece, it's also linked to the execrable broadcast flag. (Hat tip: Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing)