 In 1979, the Satellite Home Viewers Act allowed homeowners in the US to own and operate their own home satellite system, consisting of C-band equipment from a multitude of manufacturers who were making parts for systems such as Taylor Howard's, and began a large controversy of which channels could be received by whom.USSB was a direct-to-home service founded in 1981.In the early 1990s they partnered with Hughes and continued operation until purchased in 1998 by DirecTV.