What your paying for is the use of their equipment and their costs, not the programing.
This came to light when shops began installing those RED telephones years ago, there are no laws stopping the supplier from setting their own rates for the use of the equipment.
This why when you stay at a Hotel/Motel/Caravan Parks etc, they can charge what they want for the use of their equipment to make a telephone call, access the Internet, use electricity or Gas on site.
These places also have to pay a license fee to the 'owner of the program', be it Radio, TV or other media as it is illegal to 'Rebroadcast' by any means, any media to anyone other than those in a dwelling (Family) situation.
With the exception of a hospital who require ALL electronic devises to be turned off, its impossible to police patients using their own devises like iPods etc, so long as you dont plug it into THEIR electricity !!!
While their fees sure make your eyes water, just think what it must cost to 'Hard Wire' out a big hospital and fit and maintain all those TV's there.
In Australia recently, Radio stations who also use the Internet to 'broadcast' their programs were hit with an addition fee for each record played above the standard fee which caused some to cease doing so.
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