47 U.S.C. § 560 — Scrambling of cable channels for nonsubscribers

Upon request by a cable service^* subscriber, a cable operator^* shall, without charge, fully scramble or otherwise fully block the audio and video programming^* of each channel^* carrying such programming so that one not a subscriber does not receive it.

As used in this section, the term “scramble” means to rearrange the content of the signal of the programming so that the programming cannot be viewed or heard in an understandable manner.