If I buy the card as part of some STB, then a "card fee" is nothing more than disingenuous profit-taking. Just raise the cost of the digital tier and eliminate the fees... It's not like you can access the tier without the equipment. It reminds me of Ma Bell charging us to rent telephones.
It's easy to point out their hypocrisy when you consider that they don't charge for a cable modem, or for the digital phone modem. It's included in the service.
Huh? Your fee for the card is for the Extra 50 channels or more you get as part of the digital service, not to mention all the on-demand content you now get included as well (what 30channels or so or more) So no sorry its not an evil company getting profits. if you consider they are going from near 7$ a month for the same service to now 3.99 for the same service they are in a sense LOSEING money they were getting before. They include the price of the modem/mta into the price of service correct, Would you prefer they break it up like some companies do and charge you not only 44.95 for internet but an extra 5-10 for the modem? Or how about they charge 34$ for the internet and 10$ for the modem? Either way its the same price. The cost of the renting the digital box wasnt just for the hardware it included the channels. They just added them together. Same with the cable card, you are not being charged 3.99 for the little hardware, but for the services that come with that hardware.