To prosecute people who tamper with the CATV physical plant, which
was happening LONG before there was any scrambling equipment. I've seen
photos were some dumbass hacksawed the shield off the .750" CATV
trunkline. Then he connected it directly to his TV set. The high RF
levels blew out the RF amp, and the 30 VAC 30 A power supply set the
input circuit on fire. Most of the system went down when he opened the
shield, so it wasn't very long before the damage was found. Then, the
stupid SOB tried to sue the CATV company for the damage to his TV, and
not having warning labels that the lines were carrying AC power.