I doubt it.
Posted on 05/19/2006 2:28:22 PM PDT by Paul678
U.S. Senate Backs Ten Fold Hike in Indecency Fines
By Jeremy Pelofsky
Reuters
May 18, 2006
WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate late on Thursday approved boosting fines tenfold to $325,000 on television and radio broadcast stations that violate rules on airing profanity or sexually explicit material.
The measure had languished for almost 16 months, drawing criticism from family groups and conservatives including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a likely 2008 contender for the Republican presidential nomination.
Lawmakers demanded higher fines on broadcasters after pop singer Janet Jackson briefly exposed her breast during the 2004 Super Bowl football halftime show broadcast on national television.
"Radio and television waves are public property and the companies who profit from using the public airwaves should face meaningful fines for broadcasting indecent material," said Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican and author of the bill.
The Federal Communications Commission is the agency responsible for reviewing indecency complaints and the current maximum fine that can be imposed is $32,500 per violation.
The U.S. House of Representatives more than a year ago passed a bill that would hike fines to as much as $500,000 per violation and require the FCC to consider revoking a station's license after three indecency violations.
House and Senate negotiators will have to work out their differences before any increase can become law.
Federal regulations bar broadcast television and radio stations from airing obscene material and restrict indecent material -- like sexually explicit discussions or profanity -- to late-night hours when children are less likely to be watching or listening.
Those limits do not apply to satellite or cable services.
The FCC fined 20 CBS Corp. television stations $550,000 for the Jackson incident. CBS apologized, but some have argued that the current fines are an insufficient deterrent to broadcasters that earn billions of dollars in revenue annually.
CBS has challenged the fine.
http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=governmentFilingsNews&storyID=2006-05-19T031141Z_01_N18389202_RTRIDST_0_CONGRESS-DECENCY.XML
A local talk show is discussing this now. Wondering why these fines can go up and be enforced but firms that hire illegals escape punishment.
Thank heavens the government is there to protect me!
The fines should be properly graduated. Most profanity nowadays is boring and trivial, and by rights ought to be fined. However, since it is a valuable part of language mastery, really good, masterful and artful profanity [a rarity nowadays] is to be encouraged with bounties. Intermediate cases, when profanity is good but not great, are to be allowed to go without fines, or with smaller penalties or bounties, depending on quality.
I doubt it.
Wait...
... never mind ...
I wonder if Howard "The Toiletmouth" Stern still wanna come down from his high horse of satelite radio?
This must mean that Ted "Fats" Kennedy will get a weekly ticket and summons to appear. He is ALWAYS indecent.
Sounds to me like those Senators need some healthy sexual activity to satisfy their own pent-up needs.
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