Congress leveraging Superbowl incident into mass content controls

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2004 21:01:09 -0800 (PST)
From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Subject: Congress leveraging Superbowl incident into mass content controls
To: dave () farber net


Dave,

It is now utterly apparent that there are those in the administration and
Congress attempting to use the recent Superbowl "incident" as an excuse for
massive controls over all forms of TV and radio -- including cable and
satellite (the Internet they've already been attacking with laws currently
before the courts, of course).  While the so-called "wardrobe malfunction"
certainly qualified as tasteless and crude during the Superbowl, the
appearance of a single mammary gland seems hardly more dangerous to the
minds of the kiddies than the spectacle of many violent sports (football,
boxing, et al.)  themselves.

Now the powers-that-be see an opening to impose a narrow-minded agenda on
broadcasters of almost every ilk, and in the super-concentrated world of the
conglomerates the effects could lead to panicky self-censorship on a grand
scale by the broadcasting behemoths.

Some of the new "indecency" measures being proposed in Congress:

 - massive increases in maximum fines

 - making networks pay 90% of affiliate violation fines

 - basing fines on the wealth of the broadcaster, e.g. allow a *single* fine
   to reach 10% of a station's yearly revenue

 - extending indecency bans to cover "gratuitous violence that is
   detrimental to the health and safety of children"

 - extending indecency bans to *all* forms of TV and radio, including
   broadcast, satellite, and cable

 - allow license revocations to occur after three indecency violations

and on and on, with both Democrats and Republicans spewing forth
various draconian content-control gems of dubious constitutionality.

I'm not an apologist for obscenity or the other garbage that makes up so
much of today's broadcasting scene.  But I am very concerned to see Congress
in the process of pandering to those who would happily reestablish the
Hayes Office (look it up, kids!) -- and worse -- if they could.

Given the range of violent and horrible atrocities taking place in the world
today, and the untold millions of people in desperate need, that Congress
has time to spend on trying to make TV, radio, and the Internet "safe" for
the lowest common denominator is in itself obscene.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () privacyforum org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, Fact Squad - http://www.factsquad.org
Co-Founder, URIICA - Union for Representative International Internet
                     Cooperation and Analysis - http://www.uriica.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy 

-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/