I sure HOPE FreeDBS launches just because I had to read through this entire thread so that I could reply knowing that I had all the info.
You all can be thankful that I'm not a mod though, cause I'd take a katana to this thread and cut out all the useless repetitive posts. Seriously, 112 pages on the default thread count, and I'd say WELL over 50 of them were probably useless comments that should have never been made. I don't even have to say that people should stop complaining, or tell people to wait, because it's already been said like 20 times or more.
The following is my opinion.
FreeDBS was launched by a bunch of people that were tired of paying too much for TV. They know there are many old dishes there are out there for Dish/DTV, and wanted to take advantage of them. However, they likely couldn't lease a circular transponder, so they QUICKLY changed their plan.
Whoever is responsible for the idea behind FreeDBS likely wanted to take advantage of all the boxes already set up though, so they debated on whether to use MPEG 2 or 4. The tech guys likely argued for MPEG 4, and argued that they'll have custom boxes eventually for the PPV on demand anyway. They won out in the long run. Sure, some people will have to buy new boxes, but shouldn't you anyway? MPEG 4 is over ten years old. How old is your receiver? Get a new one that supports it, and you'll probably be happy with the extra feeds and channels you can get.
If I were them I would launch as many channels as possible as fast as possible. How many would depend on the bandwidth and which ones were ready. IF I had the bandwidth, I would launch all the channels that were ready in MPEG 2. Then as I launched more channels, as I got low on bandwidth, I'd announce that certain channels were switching to MPEG 4.
It seems though that they are kinda learning as they go. After reading this thread though, the funding required is actually quite a bit less than I realized. I'm surprised more satellite companies don't start up. I'll be sure to recruit from here if I ever decide to start one up, so you can't complain about lack of knowledge.
However, I think you all are fooling yourself if you actually think this would have ANY chance of getting people to stop pirating. Sure, if there were enough channels up there in the clear that people stopped watching their pirate TV as much, they wouldn't PAY for key sharing, but I'm not sure they'd stop trying to get extra stuff. There's one main reason. This service is trying for clean family entertainment, likely targeting the christian satellite crowd. I don't know about you guys, but I like my violence and adult situations. And the "eye patch" crowd likely wants their regularly scheduled broadcasts, like ScyFy, Showtime, HBO, Comedy Central, etc. If ever there were a service that offered various channels for free, and you only had to pay $5-20 a month for the common TV ammenities...WITHOUT having to buy EVERY channel in the package under it, then MAYBE the pirates would slow down.
Additionally, while I don't have any kids currently, if I had a 10 year old, I likely would not have the same views on censoring things he sees as other people. A few cuss words to me aren't nearly as bad as many other things on TV that aren't even CONSIDERED being censored. For instance, common character on TV is a womanizer always with a new girlfriend, bad influence. Meanwhile, even pastors cuss sometimes.
I would like to see this succeed. Personally I don't know how interested in it I will be. We'll have to see. I'm interested to see if I'll occasionally enjoy watching the news channel, sci-fi, and possibly the farm channel.
I'd like to see a university channel. As in courses regularly scheduled that we could tune into and watch. iTunes U seems to be VERY successful online. I enjoy watching various courses while I do other things, and listening to non-fiction audio books.
