Mike Godwin says:
Concretely observed, there is no obstacle to the sort of national network we want other than the government.
Untrue. The cable providers often are putting up obstacles of their own, as are telco providers. The impossibility of Tim May's X-rated cable channel illustrates this point. The market can't function--Tim and those like him who want a certain type and variety of programming--unless there is access to the information infrastructure. Telling every would-be X-rated cable viewer to build his own cable system is not a solution.
X-Rated movies are a huge business. I suspect cable companies would love to broadcast them. However, there are government impediments to transmitting them -- fears of lawsuits, FCC intervention, and criminal charges being among them. Of course, this is comparing apples and oranges -- when TV channels per se cease to exist, which is inevitable, it will be difficult if not impossible for bluenoses to detect when such services are in use.
According to standard free-market theory, the existence of demand (Tim and friends) for an affordable product ought to stimulate a supplier for that product.
Of course it would, BARRING LEGAL OBSTACLES. Again, as before, the market is not currently free -- the obstacles are government created. Perry