A good reason not to report cable theft:
NOONE LIKES A TATTLE-TALE
btw, the lost revenue thing is always going to be debatable.. ie;
software: if I had opportunity would I legitamately buy Kris Kross: Make My Video for Sega CD? #### no.. did they lose revenue from my copying it? No, because there was no hope of a sale in the first place.. Now of course, if i stole a copy from radio shack, radio shack is out the wholesale cost of that cd (thats the difference between theft/piracy.. in both cases the effect on sega is negligable.. i wouldnt pay for it anyways).. Sometimes it does count at a loss, sometimes people pirate/steal what they would otherwise have paid for. For the most part, citizens of western civilizations know stealing is wrong. I actually pay for games I play, or software I use. Legal or not, I have no moral problems with the hundreds of crappy titles I've archived and collect dust in my closet.
cable/sat piracy:
if I'm paying for standard cable, yet getting 'premium' cable through an illegal hookup, is the cable company hurt? Same as with software piracy: maybe.. Would I have paid for premium? probably not. Maybe I'd order wrestlemania, but I could really give 2 hoots about the other channels.
Of course I'm making the logical fallacy of arguing from the specific to the general..
Thing is, software companies look at every copy made as a lost sale, and cable companies look at every PPV not paid for as lost revenue. Just because someone watches wrestlemania doesnt imply that they would have paid to do so. This is convenient for them, its an enormous tax-writeoff, it lets them send lobbyists out with bloated, extreme figures.
You cant very well lobby for anti-piracy legislation like the DMCA with a tagline of 'we lose anything from 0-100 billion a year, mebbe even make a lil on free publicity'.. Would have been alot harder to shut napster down if they'd used the research that showed napster users bought more music on average. Easier to say every mp3 leeched is another sale lost..
so whats the point of all this ranting? none really.. I just wish society had a lil more common sense.. people know stealing is wrong.. that simple moral guideline will now and forever minimize any losses from any company. less than 1/2 of 1% shoplift, and I'd imagine a similar ratio of legitimate customers to pirates in industry.
maybe more, on second thought.. profiteering in all forms of media is so rampant, it's harder and harder to see cable theft and software piracy as 'immoral'. the solution is probably a fair and trustworthy relationship with the customers, that doesnt leave them feeling ripped off every time theres an unexpected rate-hike, hidden fee, expensive upgrade, etc.. that'll never happen.. easier to pay lobbyists to legislate your companies success than to pay management to run it fairly..