Cable networks on multicasting: "just say no!"

94 cable networks banded together with a powerful message to Congress today. As a group, these networks want Congress to deny what the broadcasters want: legislation for a "must-carry" rule. The broadcasters want Congress to require cable networks to carry all of the DTV channels that the stations are broadcasting.

I can see both sides here. If the cable networks aren't required to carry the DTV signals of local broadcasters, there is risk of lost advertising revenue for the networks as their audience could dwindle. On the flipside, cable operators have a limited amount of bandwidth. HDTV channels will certainly take up some of the bandwidth, so the cable companies might want to use remaining bandwidth for non-broadcast programming.

I'm in an area where I can get my local DTV and HDTV broadcasts over-the-air, so I'm OK if the cable operators aren't required to carry my locals. I have satellite anyway, although I'm not yet sure how this applies to the satellite industry. In any case, I'm curious how you feel about this. Should the cable operators be required to carry local DTV signals or should they be allowed to offer the programming of their choice?