Stakes rising for cable TV firms and content providers

[Commentary] Time Warner Cable, the nation's second-biggest cable system, desired my support in its long-running fight with content providers such as Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC. The programmers, it seems, want to jack up the fees they charge Time Warner and its fellows to beam their content through my cable box. "Price increases," Time Warner lamented on its website. "Big ones. Up to 300% more. Sometimes we can avoid passing them on to you. Sometimes we can't." (Translation: "We pass them on to you.") I'm a sucker for a corporate sob story, but I had to wonder if Time Warner was telling me the whole truth. My suspicion was further stirred by how the poll was set up. On the website, the company asks subscribers to click on a link marked "Get Tough" (i.e., tell the programmers to jump in a lake) or one marked "Roll over" (pay them off and hope for the best). Click on "Get Tough" and you land on a page reading "Thanks." Click on "Roll Over" and the next page directs you back to the "Get Tough" page.