The US government subsidized substantially the purchasing of Digital Converter Boxes for Television receivers; Some Companies even took this opportunity to attract customers, by giving them out for free.

Some people got superstitious and looked closely at this device, found lenses in there and jumped to the conclusion, it would be a spy-camera in every household. So A few experts, including me had to step up to the stage (e.g. YouTube) and explain the truth about these devises.