FC: More on FCC's Tristani and anti-indecency campaign, correction

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[Whoops. Ross is right, of course. I meant to type two of five 
commissioners. --Declan]

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Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2001 13:32:49 -0400
To: declan () well com
From: Ross Stapleton-Gray <amicus () well com>
Subject: Re: FC: FCC's Tristani gains ally in campaign against radio
  "indecency"
In-Reply-To: <5.0.2.1.0.20010707125013.02122040 () mail well com>

At 12:50 PM 7/7/01 -0400, you wrote:
> ...
> That means two of the FCC's three commissioners -- almost a majority -- 
> are pressing for a government crackdown on radio and TV shows.

I'm presuming you mean two of five, unless the Congress has restructured 
the FCC, or Webster's has redefined "majority"...

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Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2001 10:27:37 -0700
From: David Brownell <david-b () pacbell net>
Subject: Re: FCC's Tristani gains ally in campaign against radio "indecency"
To: declan () well com, politech () politechbot com

> indecency regulation is appropriate because  parents need help in
> protecting their children from potentially harmful broadcast material and
> because *broadcasting is uniquely accessible to children.*1

Ludicrous.  Children are not radio or TV receivers, and
surgery to turn them into such receivers isn't available (yet).

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Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2001 16:05:23 -0700
To: declan () well com, politech () politechbot com
From: David Honig <honig () sprynet com>
Subject: Re: FC: FCC's Tristani gains ally in campaign against radio
  "indecency"

At 12:50 PM 7/7/01 -0400, Declan McCullagh wrote:
>indecent material by WDCG (FM). Ms. Moller's complaint says that at 8 a.m.
>on February 5, 2001, hosts of the *Bob and Madison Showgram* on WDCG were
>
>taking calls from people that had never masturbated (shaking hands with the
>queen or something to that effect). * [T]hey told the listener in question
>that they would give them ten minutes to put the phone down and try it.  If
>they did they would give them 'a bunch of prizes.'
>

Maybe they were proselytizing the recommendations of >1 surgeon general of
the US?

Oooh, the irony.

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From: terry.s () juno com
To: declan () well com
Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2001 15:04:51 -0400
Subject: Re: FC: FCC's Tristani gains ally in campaign against radio 
"indecency"

This may not be the ideal time to pursue it with Rehnquist, Scalia, and
Thomas on the high court, but Pacifica needs to be revisited, with legal
tactics and strategy shaped to document how "indecency" is such a
religiously and culturally biased concept that it fails legal definition
for the same reasons Potter Stewart wrestled to define "pornography".

The court simply cannot, despite any illusions to the contrary, adopt a
concept borrowed from Judeo-christian religion (in different form than it
exists for Muslims, absent in many other religions), and merely by
writing out their thoughts in legalese make that concept "neutral" with
respect to 1st Amendment criteria, never mind meet strict scrutiny
criteria the present court's actions suggest key Justices may not respect
or honor.

Broadcast TV needs South Park, and other similar humor and entertainment
crafted to also challenge people to think, inclusive of both political
and sociological messages.  Trey Parker and Matt Stone could revive the
NAMBLA topic on which they've already touched, and with a comedic focus
on the distinction between NAMBLA as a serious civil rights organization
versus shield for pedophiles (both of which it appears to be in some mix)
go well beyond any Mancow broadcast comments while staying carefully
within strict scrutiny test areas of speech.  Comedy Central has allowed
those skillful producers to do an entire show on the silliness of "shit"
as a Pacifica target, while censor bleeping "fuck", and including a side
theme on core personal trait humor or thought police codes with respect
to "faggot".

Commissioner Tristani's demands for intolerance and censorship amount to
a form of hate speech, which sends a message that anyone not sharing her
prejudices over sexuality and language choices is to be outcast as a
substandard human.  The more diverse our culture becomes, the more
important it is to protect against government picking and choosing
religious and cultural favorites to the exclusion of others, regardless
of popularity with some factions to use law to infringe civil and human
rights of neighbors.  This produces kids less able to cope with
diversity, protecting an illusion of "proper" social order rather than
teach respect for people of different beliefs and life paths.  Such
so-called "standards" of preventing "harm to minors" are in fact a cause
of harm to people, minors and adults alike.

Terry

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