I suggest you check with an attorney or a reliable legal resource. What you think applies to magazine subscriptions is NOT the same in regard to cable. If you knowingly receive cable programming service without ordering it, and the company finds out, you are almost certainly liable for any bills from the day the cable was installed -- and quite likely for felony criminal charges, if the total runs above whatever the level used to define 'felony' in your state is. Perhaps you should try calling the cable company with a 'hypothetical question' based on what "a friend" of yours says.