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Posted on 03/01/2005 10:01:09 AM PST by Dave S
Senator: Decency Rules Should Apply Pay TV, Radio
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens said on Tuesday he would push to apply broadcast decency standards to subscription television and radio services like cable and satellite.
"Cable is a much greater violator in the indecency area," the Alaska Republican told the National Association of Broadcasters, which represents most local television affiliates. "I think we have the same power to deal with cable as over-the-air" broadcasters.
"There has to be some standard of decency," he said.
Stevens told reporters afterward that he would push legislation to apply the standards to cable and satellite radio and television.
Federal regulations bar broadcast television and radio stations from airing obscene material and restrict indecent material, such as sexually explicit discussions or profanity, to late-night hours when children are less likely to be watching or listening.
But so far those restrictions have not applied to subscription television and radio services offered by companies like Comcast Corp. or Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., which recently signed shock jock Howard Stern.
Stevens said he disagreed "violently" with assertions by the cable industry that Congress does not have the authority to impose limits on what they air.
"If that's the issue they want to take on, we'll take it on and let the Supreme Court decide," he said.
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation to raise fines to $500,000 from $32,500 on television and radio broadcasters that violate indecency limits. The Senate has legislation pending to increase fines as well.
But neither bill has provisions that would extend indecency restrictions to cable and satellite services.
There is no FRule thar articles have to be read before poating. Most people here take advantage of that freedom.
Quotes like that make me wish FR allowed longer tag lines
This gentleman is fourth in line the presidency. (I think).
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Do you talk that way in front of your children?
You can "shame" behaviors all you want and I'm with you. It's when you want the government to regulate them that I will fight you to my last breath.
We say murder is wrong, that is regulating morality?????
You are f--ing loon as in lunatic. I hope your husband knows what he got himself into. Otherwise, he is in my prayers, as your future children if you want the government to raise them for you.
Once again, do you use that language around your children? Do you kiss your wife with that filthy mouth?
What is acceptable today was not at one time in our society. When Andy Griffith was on tv, people would never have dreamed of having the shows on that we have today.
The people of past generations never thought it was their "right" to have vulgar programming on the airwaves...why do we consider it our "right" today?
Quick! Post who's holding a gun to your head forcing you to subscribe to XM. Or who's preventing you from blocking objectionable channels. Or who's forcing you to change the dial. We'll send the police immediately.
Because unless there's some outside force being applied, the only person "subjecting" your family to such things is that dude you see in the mirror.
Drinking alcohol in moderation. Using strong language. Driving. Entering into contracts. Staying up all night. Using firearms without another person's supervision. Going out without telling one's parents. Attempting to swim the English Channel. Repairing high-voltage power lines. White-water kayaking. Chopping vegetables with big, sharp knives. Lighting a barbeque grill. Changing a tire. Running for office. Deep-fat frying.
Lying. Stealing. Disobedience. Using violence, up to and including killing. These are things that are sometimes justified and not universally "bad." We expect adults to know the difference, but not children. The same applies to fictitious depictions of such acts.
Please don't say sex....I do not have sex out-of-wedlock and when my future children are married, they are welcome to have sex.
Fine. I'll say marriage instead. Or are you arguing that marriage, and anything that goes on within marriage, is appropriate for children?
Stick to the morality ones and tell me you want your children to do those things....I am assuming you think it is okay for adults to do those things in front of children?
This guy should be laughed off the floor of the Senate. It is pay television and radio. People pay for it. If they don't want to hear what is on the channel then either quit listening or quit paying.
I adressed lying, stealing and killing. If those aren't "the morality ones," exactly what is?
and tell me you want your children to do those things.
No. I don't want children doing a lot of things that I think it's acceptable for adults to do. Neither does everyone in this thread who isn't you. Thank you for making my point.
I am assuming you think it is okay for adults to do those things in front of children?
Whoa, there, Huckleberry. Shift the goalpoasts much? You demanded things that weren't bad for adults but were inappropriate for children. You got dozens of examples. Now, apparently, anything's "bad" that can't be done in front of children?
I would not consider sexual contact within the bonds of marriage to be "bad." I do not consider masturbation "bad." I do not consider putting a wounded animal out of its misery "bad." I do not consider any of those appropriate to do in front of a child (depending on the age for the last one).
I have, however, driven, gone out without telling my parents, chopped vegetables, lit a grill, changed a tire, and fried food in front of children. I feel no remorse for these acts, but I wouldn't want children doing the same.
I haven't yet gotten married. When and if I do, it will probably be in the presence of children. I do not believe that children should marry. I don't see any inconsistency in this.
Protecting children is never wrong. Somewhere along the way though, your "right" trumps what is best for children.
Yes it is. Sometimes children need to be presented with the results of their behavior. Again you are wrong. I'm glad I had decent parents instead of a skizoids like yourself who got her child rearing lessons from Sunday School classes. Do the country and yourself a favor and dont have any kids, you are not ready for them.
No one is forcing me to subscribe to XM, however neither Sirius nor XM are paragons of decency. So if I want to listen to any broadcast in the vast FM voids in which I am wont to travel it will be XM. I could block Ethyl, but the Alternative rock pickins are slim on XM, and Ethyl is about it.
It is easy to glibly state that "you can just change the channel", but the stuff is pervasive as the weather, each way I turn I am assaulted by it. I would have to retreat to a cave somewhere to avoid it.
There is a public cost to the private transactions people make with programming suppliers, which results in aggregate in pervasive cultural degredation. The steadily declining standards of decency can only be solved in aggregate, hopefully by broadcast associations, but in the last extremity by Congress.
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