Re: Censorship Run Amok: XM, Big Money at the FCC, and the Rest

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: EEkid () aol com
Date: May 18, 2007 6:05:14 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Censorship Run Amok: XM, Big Money at the FCC, and  
the Rest

Mr. Weinstein makes an interesting point.  Where does censorship end  
and freedom of speech begin?

Yesterday, I listened to Tony Blair and George Bush meet with the  
press.  During their presentation it was mentioned that there were  
protesters nearby  [in a free speech zone] and that neither candidate  
knew whether they were in support of the two leaders or speaking out  
against them.  One commented "that's democracy".  When we carefully  
place "free speech zones" such that the world's leaders are isolated  
from the comments of protesters, haven't we effectively cleansed free  
speech and made it more palitable for our rulers?  Is this what the  
founding fathers envisioned when they gave our people the right to  
free speech?  Did they envision a world where we can say what we want  
in designated areas as long as it doesn't interfere with those at the  
top of government?

During a recently aired episode of Penn and Tellers cable show  
"Bullshit", they traveled around the country and attempted to get  
American's to sign a fake petition restricting free speech within 300  
yards of the US Capitol building.  Stating something to the effect  
that it would preserve our national heritage.  It was amazing that  
not only were people willing to sign the petition, but they commented  
that it was the right thing to do.  Of course, later in the show they  
showed people who would not sign it.

When American's are willing to restrict free speech and apparently do  
not understand the implications of doing so, what does this mean for  
our country in the long term?

While what "Opie and Anthony" did on the air probably came close to  
being criminal behavior, after all it did discuss the joy of raping a  
woman who is a top US public official, is it just a censorship foot  
in the door?  If we can restrict the open speech of a closed for pay  
media vehicle such as XM, when will they be able to restrict free  
speech in closed, pay to enter, comedy clubs?  Once we have  
restricted free speech in comedy clubs, what about private clubs,  
political clubs and finally the homes of Americans?

When Mr. Stern says "If you want free speech, walk in a closet and  
talk to yourself." he could be predicting a future American tradition  
of home free speech zones.  After all, maybe it would protect our  
national heritage...


Jerry




In a message dated 5/17/2007 12:14:41 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
dave () farber net writes:


Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: May 17, 2007 11:16:43 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: lauren () vortex com
Subject: Censorship Run Amok: XM, Big Money at the FCC, and the Rest



            Censorship Run Amok: XM, Big Money at the FCC, and the Rest

                   http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000239.html


Dave,

I haven't seen noted here the controversy regarding XM's suspension
of the raucous "Opie and Anthony" team for a month (see
http://tinyurl.com/22me2z ), over their admittedly vulgar remarks
regarding some highly-placed female personages.  Apparently the
suspension has caused considerable outrage and blowback from many XM
subscribers, who thought they were paying XM's non-trivial fees for
uncensored programming free of the usual Nanny-FCC constraints.

I am not a fan of O&A's style of humor, nor of Howard Stern's for
that matter, but Howard nicely crystallized the rapidly declining
environment for freedom of speech when he reacted to this case by
telling his Sirius audience, "If you want free speech, walk in a
closet and talk to yourself."

There are two primary forces at work creating an increasingly
suffocating situation.  One is persons using religious, racial, and
related concerns to try enforce a "we'll tell you what you can say"
attitude, often with threats of new regulations and laws, which
given Congress' willingness to pander is not an outcome to
be easily dismissed as unlikely.

Related to this is the mess at the FCC, where the enormous amounts
of money involved in broadcasting and telecommunications have caused
distortions that can impact many facets of our lives in extremely
negative ways.

In the O&A case, many observers feel -- including myself -- that
XM's action is a thinly veiled attempt to garner favor at the FCC
for the proposed XM/Sirius merger (to which I'm firmly opposed).

There's lots of speech that is crude, obnoxious, and just plain
disgusting, even outside of government offices!  But that's the price
we pay to live in an ostensibly free society, and that freedom is
ensconced right there at the top of the Bill of Rights.

Holier-than-thou demagogues are now engaged in a concerted campaign to
restrict public and even private discourse -- on conventional
airwaves, satellite and cable, the Internet, and even on the streets,
to meet their small-mind mentalities and restrictions.  Preying on
the fears of government officials and legislators is key to their
modus operandi.

We may individually dislike -- even strongly hate -- much of what we
see or hear when it comes to speech, but if we let these wannabe
moral dictators have their way, we'd better start clearing out some
room in our closets right now.  As Stern suggested, those may soon
be the only uncensored venues left.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
    - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
    - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
Founder, CIFIP
    - California Initiative For Internet Privacy - http://www.cifip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com





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