I agree with you on your original question. I am sure that plenty of people wonder why we have basically said "NO, it can't be done" without much detail. It's pretty safe to assume that just about everything is available wireless these days, so why not cable TV? "If the cable TV or satellite company receives their signal over the air, why can't it be retransmitted over the air"? "I can watch TV on my cell phone now"! It really is a perfectly logical question to ask.
The difference is that the service providers are receiving a regulated and dedicated signal via satellite downlinks. The signals that they receive come through multiple satellites in multiple positions in the sky. The service providers combine and shape these signals into ones that can be placed into logical numerical formats for end-users. They pay a monthly fee to receive these signals, just like we do with cable or satellite service. If they don't pay, they get cut off, just like we do. If they have a digital device that they can send the signal (and a bill) to, they will give you all that you are willing to pay for.
When you get into basic analog cable channels, they have no way to regulate how you distribute them. These are those channels that you can pick up with a roof top antenna or rabbit ears on your TV. Have you heard about the new regulation going into effect next February? Yep, even that free service is being discontinued and all off-air channels are going digital. The government is offering free coupons so that regular folks can purchase converter boxes to receive these signals, but it's just a sign of the times. Eventually, now that you are required to have a digital receiver (converter box), they will be able to address you directly and perhaps start charging you for access to TV signals received off the air. Not to be "gloom and doom", but think about it.
The fees we pay the service providers, aside from delivering service to our homes, also pays them for the added convenience of being able to select "channel 7" instead of tuning to 874.105MHz for video and 90.113 for audio and combining them ourselves to watch "Desperate Housewives". (This example was entirely figurative, for example only).
Each cable or satellite TV account is assumed to be for a single user. If it were possible to rebroadcast their shaped and formatted signal, you could possibly have a cul-de-sac or apartment building paying for one account with all of the neighbors sharing the account using wireless receivers.
These service providers aren't stupid. They have beaten us to the punch so that we can't steal cable. I think that the TV signal issue has more to do with issues like the TV writer's union being on strike right now. They want to be paid for their broadcast over Internet or multi-path distribution channels, yet it's nearly impossible to track. This argument could go on forever.
With wireless Internet access, it's a completely different technology with much less regulation on a per-account basis. As it sits now, wireless Internet access restriction is up to the customer to regulate. Wireless computer networks are a different bird since the communication is bi-directional. If you have a wireless network that you allow others to access, then you also risk the freeloaders getting into your computer(s) or worse yet, running a kiddie porn site on your Internet account. Guess who's door the FBI will knock upon when this activity is tracked back to your IP address? I hate to think of all of the mayors, teachers, preachers and plain old folks who ended up making the mistake of having an unsecure wireless computer network.
Sorry for the side rant. I just wanted to emphasize that wireless isn't really ever wireless and the reasons why.
