Posted on 02/27/2004 1:52:26 PM PST by af_vet_rr
Reuters
Reuters Summit-FCC's Martin ponders indecency on pay TV, radio
Wednesday February 25, 6:31 pm ET
By Jeremy Pelofsky
NEW YORK, Feb 25 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators should consider whether radio and television services carried by cable and satellite must adhere to indecency standards, Federal Communications Commissioner Kevin Martin said on Wednesday.
Pressure has been building in recent months to address the growing coarseness on television and radio, with some lawmakers and regulators pondering whether the limits on over-the-air broadcasts can be applied to cable and satellite services.
Rest of article at link
(Excerpt) Read more at biz.yahoo.com ...
I don't think they should touch the pay services. Parents have a choice to decide what their kids can and cannot watch, and shouldn't rely on the government to babysit their kids. If they won't make the effort to make sure their kids can't hear or see "adult" programming, they perhaps shouldn't be subscribing to pay TV. Lieberman is a big backer of this, of course, because it's "for the children". Just because Janet Jackson pulled some publicity stunt, or a couple of idiot DJs somewhere did something stupid, doesn't mean the government should go trampling on some of us to protect others.
As far as free versus cable, nothing is really free in this world. Somebody is paying something. The viewers on broadcast television pay the stations, although indirectly. They listen to advertisements and spend money, which encourages advertisers to supply more money to stations. If the whole thing were free, it would be made from magical communist dust.
By that reasoning, we might as well get Congress involved in regulating internet content. See what a slippery slope it can be? Parents have options to keep their kids from flipping around. Their refusal to exercise those options should not lead to the government jumping in and regulating this or that to "protect the children" so to speak.
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