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In 2009,will it be possible for the government to turn off our TV sets at their will with digital technology?

Say, for instance, if the government hypothetically wanted to stop someone from watching a particular television broadcast on the new digital television format (starting in 2009), will the techology exist to allow such an interuption of a person's ability to receive certain television signals. For instance, if there is a cult in Waco, Texas, and they are hooked on a religious broadcast - - will the U.S. government simply be able to flip a switch and turn off their individual television sets? Does this technology exists within the new all digital television sets? Can they be individually identified, and can one tell what another person is watching on a digital television with the use of a special device that somehow reads what channel is being watched on a digital television set? Thanks. Any additional thoughts concerning this matter are certainly welcomed.

Public Comments

1. no more so than they could today wiuth regular cable. The government would have to contact the cable provide who would then cut off service, I don't think that would ever really happen though. The digital switch really will not make much of a differance at all. I have had AT&T digital cable (Uverse) for almost a year now, the cable company are the only ones that can control the power, I have been on the phone with them for an issue and they could turn my digital cable box on and off remotly.
2. It is even possible now, with analog TV , to send side information to a TV; For example, that's how parental controls work. The TV reads the Parental control info and if you specified that you don't want certain programs (say R), then you can't watch those program. However, the user still has full control. So, it could be possible to specify a flag/command that commands a TV to turn off, but there is nothing like that specified in the TV standards - which means nothing like that is implemented. There is no way to know what a person is watching. Of-the-air transmission is only one way.
3. Actually the government has the authority to shut off the transmission end of a broadcast, although that is rarely used. For example the former Dr Eugene Scott, famous religious broadcaster had his television station in Los Angeles physically raided by federal officials and powered off.