FCC Wants To Decide What You Can Watch On Cable
from the overreaching dept
Under its current leadership, the FCC has made it a priority to impose the morals of a small group of people on all television viewers by cracking down on so-called indecent programming. Not content with abusing the power to regulate over-the-air broadcasters, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has been trying to extend his authority to act as moral policeman over cable and other paid systems as well, by bullying cable operators into offering "family tiers" of channels or a-la-carte pricing. He does this because the FCC doesn't have the power to regulate paid networks -- though that could soon change. The FCC will soon recommend that Congress pass a new law giving it the ability to not only regulate "indecent" programming, but also violence in TV shows, and also allowing it to regulate what's shown on basic cable channels. Just to review, cable is something that people pay for, and that they willingly invite into their own home. If they don't like what's on it, they can either take advantage of the myriad tools that exist to allow people to block objectionable content (from family tiers to the V-chip to controls on set-top boxes, or simply even the remote control), or they can choose to not bring it into their home. Giving the FCC these additional powers will simply push it further towards being the Federal Censorship Commission, and will have a chilling effect on all sorts of speech. However, even if Congress should pass new legislation in this area, getting it to stand up to scrutiny in the courts will be another matter. Just as state legislators' efforts to ban the sale of certain video games to minors have consistently been knocked back by the courts, Congress and the FCC may find they're overstepping their bounds -- and the Constitution.
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Good for internet TV.
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Federal Crybaby Commission
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Home of the Free
I believe people should be free to watch and say what they want as long as they are not causing harm to someone else. If I don't like what's being shown, I do what I would always do, change the channel!
With the massive selection of information we have today, it's absurd and arrogant that 1 person believes they halt the flow of information. It's up to the parents, the good parents, to set the boundaries for their children. It's time for us as parents to take back the power and responsibility of being a parent and making our own decisions and not have them dictated to us.
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But what else would anyone expect from another power hungry lawyer!!?
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I want my smut TV
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most popular comment..
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Thank you for some common sense #3
Freedom is about what and how you want to enjoy things for yourself, and making choices that work for you w/o stepping on the freedoms of others.
These people, like the ones at the FCC currently, simply don't get that. Their judgement is MUCH BETTER than yours about determining whats right for you or and family. Thank goodness they are smart enough to "watch out" for us. (barfs)
These people's lives are so boring and deprived that they must try to restrict the personal lives of others to feel important. GET THE F@CK OVER YOURSELVES!
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Re: Thank you for some common sense #3
Don't delude yourself in thinking that conservatives have a monopoly on all this 'Think of the Children' crap. Liberals, while not doing exactly what conservatives do, will do other things just as bad (Tipper Gore anyone?).
This mentality needs to be rooted our of our political system at all levels. People need to condition themselves to reflexively question anyone who wants to do something 'For the Children.'
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Re: Re: Thank you for some common sense #3
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Re: Re: Thank you for some common sense #3
I was merely suggesting a) the world isn't becoming more conservative and b) the conversative ones (that are blinded by their "my way" or "no way" thinking) are showing how increasingly they are nuts.
Thanx ;-)
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you have some common sense!!!!!!!!
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Evil
I don't know how much capacity I have for hate, but it seems to be keeping in step with their capacity for evil.
Can the combined hatred of millions of Americans cause them to suddenly implode like the wretched house at the end of "Poltergeist"?
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Kevin Martin's Manhood Is Lacking
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This is nonsense
What they fail to realize is that there are already plenty of ways to monitor what kids watch. Almost every cable and satellite provider offers some sort of parent lockout scheme. On the hardware end there are V-Chips. Whatever happened to keeping an eye on what they were watching? And for the parents on the go parental lockouts work wonders.
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Re: Anon Covert
And since cable companies are privet organisations and not broadcasting over public free airwaves they are not subject to the FCC telling them what they can and can't show.
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Re: Re: Anon Covert
The is no discrepancy between "private" and "public" airwaves.
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then and now
in the part where FCC controls the technology of brodcasting, it's great.
but once it starts taking moral judgements, that's too far.
one man's porn is another mans art (to an extent)
because i can't tell you what filth is, but i do know it when i see it.
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Dont understand...
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1. Thanks to the FEDERAL government being in Iraq for 3 years has shown me more violence than I've ever seen on TV.
2. What the insurgents have been doing out there has caught the eye of the whole world. Why cause they believe that it is unfair what we are doing, hence they are retaliating. But guess what It's working... All the dems are fighting to get us outta there. Why would they stop when they know that part of our government is trying to get us outta there. They know there will be a deadline soon why will they stop??? The will not. So I propose we NUKE em... Problem solved. Now I've gone off on a tangent here but what I'm trying to say is. Isn't this country built on war? Yes, history proves it.. Now don't we as a government, American civilization have the mind set that if you don't get what you want go out and get it? So why can't we revolt or should I say go get our freedom back from the faggot suites and ties that are trying to tell us what we can watch even if we are paying for it.. I thought this was the land of the free... Or is it becoming the land where your free to limit people rights to do say and watch what they want???
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Re:
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I'm not a Muslim Arab or any of the above, nor any I someone that believes in terrorism, I just think it's unfair that and unconstitutional that they are trying to regulate our freedoms that we as Americans pay for through our taxes and our/ my service in the military.
I'm paying for the RIAA, MPAA, FCC TO GERGULATE ME, WELL THEN. I guess I should fire them...
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Liberalism mindset
"Conservatives mindset is one where there is a belief in personal responsibility, whereas the liberal mindset is one where Government needs to protect people from themselves."
What's funny is that back in the founding of the USA, liberals were the English, and the conservatives were the Union.
I worry about where we're going...
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D Cate's response
Less government, more freedom!
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1. Cable television IS broadcast as it goes through the air/space on a freq. at some point of its journey. How do you think the signal gets from the provider to your cable company, by wire strung between the two? The reason for the FCC's existence is to ensure the public gets the most from this limited number of freqs.
2. I for one, like the idea of ala carte. I do not care for my satellite company's take it all or nothing packages. I also don't like others telling me I can just turn my TV off. Don't we have a right to pick and choose what we want to buy? I don't have kids so why should I have to pay for Nick at Nite, Cartoon Network, or the Disney channels? I'm NOT suggesting that those channels should be yanked from the air, just that I should be able to choose what I buy. What's wrong with that?
3. FREE SPEECH! Everyone cries free speech whenever anyone suggests deciding what should or should not be allowed. But what about those wronged providers? Does free speech allow me to show my video on the air or does NBC et. al., just laugh in my face? What about the show Firefly (plug in your own favorite)? We didn't decide to stop watching THEY decided for us, even though there may have been literally millions still tuning into every episode.
I'm not say agree with the FCC. Just some things to think on.
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Re:
I'm missing your point here. Everyone cries "free speech" whenever censorship is mentioned, because that's the heart of the matter. Censorship destroys one group or another's freedom to express their opinion.
The common counter to this is "people have the right to not be offended." However, there are two things to remember when you're dealing with "free speech" and the First Amendment...
1) You don't have any right to say what you want...
2) You don't have any right to not be offended...
Free speech means that the Government will not enact a law that limits your ability to say what you want. And it has nothing to with whether or not you�re offended.
So if the government (FCC) enacts laws to limit what is said (shown) based on "morals", "offensiveness" or "decency", the problem isn't why those laws were enacted... it's that they were enacted at all.
As to your statements about Firefly (great show, IMO)... you don't have "the right" to the shows you like. As the receiver of these shows, you don't get any more say than the broadcasters give you. If they don't want to air a show (i.e., provide a service), then they have no obligation to. The "free speech" here would be that if they want to show it, the Government can't say "no".
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Who says what I get to watch?
Let's see: violence on The Sopranos is bad, but violence from the Iraq War is allowed, even though it's real and is much worse.
(Sorry to spoil the story, but the actors who "died" on The Sopranos are still alive.)
Nudity?
Is it okay to show a documentary about native tribes where the native women are topless? How about a documentary on the beaches of Europe where (white) women are topless?
Super Bowl scandal?
It's horribly, terribly wrong that Janet Jackson flashed a nipple for 1/4 of a second, yet no one complains about how the beer commercials degrade women by showing a horse's fart exploding in her face? She was "burned" like Daffy Duck and no real damage was done, but still.
Or how about the commercial where a guy trains his dog to bite another guy in the crotch, which was (of course) played for laughs.
Also, don't confuse this issue with networks pulling shows off the air for low ratings. In the above example, Firefly wasn't pulled off the air because it was indecent- it was cancelled because FOX didn't think it was getting good enough ratings.
Many people thought "Married... with Children" was "indecent"... but FOX thought it got good enough ratings and kept it on the air.
So, even though The Sopranos may be the best show on television (and may have won more Emmys than any other show), would the FCC force HBO to stop showing it because the violence is too high for the new "standards"?
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Re: Who says what I get to watch?
> the new "decency" rules and tell
> me what I can and can't watch?
The bible thumpers, of course. If you really want to watch something funny, just point out that the bible is one of the most violent, blood-soaked stories ever written and any TV show based on it should be censored under their own rules.
Then sit back and laugh as their heads twist off and they start sputtering out "But that's different!" rationales.
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Thought provoking.
-The Declaration of Independence
Yeah, thought this might apply again, soon.
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Re: Thought provoking.
You know... I was thinking about that earlier, but I couldn't remember which Revolutionary document it was. Thanks!
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All Nick chans, Cartoon Network, the Disney channe
if you go into a perverts house, i am guesstimating that 90+ % of them watch those channels more than Playboy After Dark or Spice or whatever there is out there.
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Re: All Nick chans, Cartoon Network, the Disney ch
Just thought I'd warn you. :)
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Re: The infamous Joe
further, with tongue-in-cheek:
sadly, isnt there a bit of truth to that ???
also, look at advertising on tv: a burger commercial:
****** Bob, no pants ???
wonder how many moms around here have been "exposed" to that
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leave me alone,i live my life and i raise my child the best i can, dont put your shit in my nose
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Re:
No, bitchslap them back into thier place of regulation and neuter them for getting uppity and pandering to the money of religious and "moral" interests.
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Re: Re:
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Re:
So you would be OK with local television stations televising hardcore porn?
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But what else would anyone expect from another pow
Lawyers are merely money hungry.
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Re: But what else would anyone expect from another
Lawyers are merely money hungry."
Did you ever notice how many politicians are ex-lawyers?
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HYPOCRISY from the Neo-Con-Jobs as per usual...
1) They want to dismantle the federal government such that it minimizes regulation (of corporations).
2) They want to pull the 'We Are Christians' baloney and regulate everything they can lay their hands on that will make the reactionary pseudo-Christians happy.
Result: Total hypocrisy.
What are we experiencing: Nothing remotely close to actual sincerity. It is pure, or should I say impure, politics. The REAL Christians are suckers. They get this token totalitarian approach to government while the Neo-Con-Jobs get to line each other's pockets by making the USA into a corporation run plutocracy/medieval throw back. The ruling gods here are most certainly NOT Yahweh. They are Greed and Mammon.
As ever, the ideal path is moderation in all things.
Corporations require being moderately regulated in order that they not to rape everyone and everything for the sake of profit.
TV requires moderate regulation for the sake of allowing children, and everyone else, to live a life without having violence and sex inflicted into it at every turn.
In this case, clearly the FCC has no jurisdiction and it should stay that way. If a parent is too dopey to block offensive cable channels, then that is /their/ responsibility. It has nothing-whatsoever to do with the federal government or any other humans on Earth. It's that simple.
If only we humans could evolve to the point where we take personal responsibility for our personal actions. Grow up humanity!
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It seems that most missed the real point
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Should have seen this coming...
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You know, this would be so funny if it wasn't so dangerous and widespread...
I have been living in the US for about 2 years, but was born and raised in Belgium.
There is no censorship in Belgium, sure, they won't show a movie using the word fuck 237 times around 5pm, nor would they with movies with extreme violence or erotic content. Yet, once the kids are supposed to be in bed, or at least supervised by parents (9 pm), any movie goes (this does not mean porn)...uncut. I have seen 1 time a movie on Belgian TV that was edited for content and the tv station got complaints that they had "censored" it...
Movies over here in the US get butchered because of all the beeps or blanks or overdubbing (which is pretty annoying) because god forbid we use words like "shit" or "fuck" or "ass" on TV....or scenes get cut, partially or entirely because of content...
[I'm sure often they hide behind the we have to cut some scenes to keep it to our schedule argument...(well, let's go a long with that for a second: sure, maybe, but how come it's always the less desirable content scenes that get cut, not the least relevant for the story/movie scenes, seems to me those are the ones that can be most easily missed) but that doesn't happen in Belgium either....if a movie is 2h:10m (including commercial breaks), then the next show will start at 10:10, not 10]
there's also no blurring of breasts, asses or pubic areas (if they're not being cut in US TV versions)
Even though there's no rules against it and they wouldn't be fined, TV stations don't show (hard core) porn, not even late, or after midnight (the only hardcore porn on Belgian TV is to get a bundle of Movie channels, which you pay for, they show 1 porn every night, or used to)
my point? two actually:
1) good news: apparently, surprise surprise, an environment lacking a "moral authority" like the FCC likes to be, does not lead to (moralistic) Armageddon on TV or in society.
2) bad news: moralists don't need the FCC, if they're so convinced their view is the majority view, by boycotting shows/networks they will be able to effectively censor TV anyway, or at least channels that target them as an audience...
It could all be so simple: you don't like certain content: don't watch it, and ban it from your TV, there's plenty of ways to do this...
tell your kids they're not allowed to watch it...(but hold on, if you're raising your kids "right", they shouldn't be interested anyway, because they should consider it indecent as well...and even if they're tempted, haven't you raised them "right", so that they wouldn't be disobedient?)
or block objectionable content (from family tiers to the V-chip to controls on set-top boxes, or simply even the remote control).
never use the "for the children" doctrine, we all know it's bogus, the real agenda is to force your standards/taste on everyone...and sadly, often it works (just look at that Canadian cell phone provider that was offering erotic content)
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TV Watch
TV has come a long way from the days of three channels and rabbit ears antennas. Today’s TV audiences are putting to use broadband, DVRs, TV video on demand, iPods and cell phones to greatly expand their choices about what, when, where and how to watch TV. New technology means consumers have more selection than ever and more control than ever over what they see on TV. We all have more choices and parents have more tools to ensure their kids only see what’s right for them. Let’s let parents decide—not government, for all of us.
There is more information to be found at www.TelevisionWatch.org
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Give me a la carte asap
The cable packages are one of the biggest ripoffs out there. When I go to Target to buy a trash can they don't also force me to buy the entire trash package that includes trash bags, air fresheners, and a compactor. AT&T doesn't force me to pay for voice mail and call waiting - I get to choose if I want those options. Yet it's perfectly fine for cable companies to force me to pay for dozens of channels that I don't have any interest in?
And don't give me the crap about 'if you don't like it then just don't pay for it'. That argument doesn't work because there aren't any alternatives (aside from satellite providers, who are guilty of the same thing).
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Re: Give me a la carte asap
I see where you're coming from, but we're talking about censorship here, not bad business decisions. Don't make it sound like a-la-carte is some noble cause here. It's not your right to have Cable TV, it's your choice. I didn't like that a healthy version of cigarettes was never introduced (if you believe the stories that Big Tobacco had created one, but shelved it)... but you know what? I didn't bitch about it, I quit smoking.
I will say "if you don't like it, then don't pay for it" because I don't have the false sense of entitlement that you seem to have. That argument does work when you realize that its not written anywhere "and thou shalt have cable tv to your liking".
A business can offer their services in any way they want (as long as they don't violate laws in doing so). Like when Henry Ford announced his Model-T. He told people who asked: "Yes, you can have it in any color you want... as long as you want black".
Now... let's all swing back to topic here.
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Come On
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Dish TV Network
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Dish TV Network
PEOPLE, YOU NEED TO BE PARTICULAR WHAT YOU ALLOW INTO YOUR BRAIN. FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, THIS STUFF IS AS ADDICTIVE AS COCAINE, SOME STAY UP ALL NIGHT TO WATCH, GETTING NO REST. GIVE UP THEIR WHOLE LIFE JUST TO SEE NAKED BABES. AS ONE WHO HAS CHANGED MANY MESSY DIAPERS, THE LAST THING IN THIS WHOLE WORLD I WOULD TO SEE AGAIN IS SOMEONE'S BOTTOM.
THINK ABOUT IT BEFORE YOU ARE HOOKED, MEN AND GO LOOK AT YOUR WIFE.
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Dish TV Network
PEOPLE, YOU NEED TO BE PARTICULAR WHAT YOU ALLOW INTO YOUR BRAIN. FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, THIS STUFF IS AS ADDICTIVE AS COCAINE, SOME STAY UP ALL NIGHT TO WATCH, GETTING NO REST. GIVE UP THEIR WHOLE LIFE JUST TO SEE NAKED BABES. AS ONE WHO HAS CHANGED MANY MESSY DIAPERS, THE LAST THING IN THIS WHOLE WORLD I WOULD TO SEE AGAIN IS SOMEONE'S BOTTOM.
THINK ABOUT IT BEFORE YOU ARE HOOKED, MEN AND GO LOOK AT YOUR WIFE. DON'T MAKE ME WATCH PORN. I DID NOT ORDER IT
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