[Jeffhs]

I have Time Warner cable service (no box). However, I do know that TW charges a very hefty fee to the subscriber's account if they install a cable box and said box is damaged, destroyed (accidentally or otherwise, including damage by lightning strikes) or lost. I don't know what the penalty is, but my best guess is $300 or more for the large Motorola digital boxes (non-HD). I have absolutely no clue as to what the fee for damage, loss or destruction of a Time Warner HD cable box would be, but if I had to guess, I'd say at least $315 or even more. I don't know, either, if there is a reward for return of cable boxes left behind when subscribers move out of apartments or homes; the subscriber agreement one signs when initially starting cable service with Time Warner (and very likely, almost certainly, other cable companies as well) states in no uncertain terms that the company will charge, again, at least $315 to the subscriber's account if the cable box is lost, destroyed or damaged.

Why they don't allow some latitude for cable boxes struck by lightning, however, is beyond me; after all, subscribers have no control over when or if thunderstorms will occur. However, if I remember correctly a clause in my own subscriber agreement when I had digital cable some years ago, the cable company did warn subscribers to disconnect the incoming cable line from the digital cable box and from the AC outlet during electrical storms. Failure to heed this warning could result in a lightning strike on the incoming cable line that connects to the input terminal of the box. If the cable company can prove negligence on the part of the subscriber, said subscriber will again be charged the market value of the cable box plus any damage to the cable system itself. The same thing can happen if an amateur radio operator hooks up his 150-watt station to the cable, thinking he can use the system as a super antenna; as soon as he sends out one signal, the cable system, plus any televisions hooked up to the system at the time, will be heavily damaged immediately. The cable company can sue the amateur for damages to the system and to the subscribers' televisions, which can and likely will add up in the thousands of dollars -- depending entirely on how much damage was done to the cable system and how many TVs were damaged or destroyed. I'll never forget reading years ago in an old TV repair book this sage warning: "Don't connect your (amateur) transmitter to your cable line unless you are in the TV repair business or want to hear your neighbors talking about the night lightning struck."

BTW, if you "pick up" abandoned cable or satellite boxes from vacant apartments (even if you find said boxes in dumpsters), be sure to return them to the cable operator at once, or as soon as humanly possible. Even if they were abandoned by subscribers for any reason and left behind, they are still the property of the cable or satellite company, as has been mentioned. These cable companies probably have very, very good lawyers, so the chances of getting away with failing to return an abandoned box are slim to none. There is no point in keeping a company-owned cable box with the intention of using it to get free cable anyway, as all digital cable boxes must be activated by the cable operator before use. The odds are in the cable operator's favor that these boxes will not work at all (even for local channels) until they are activated, so don't try to use one that was left behind.