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cyranoSo Senator Stevens, at the urging of the FCC, has decided to have a hearing to investigate 'filth and smut on cable television'.
I have said this before, and now I will say it with a larger font in hopes that somebody will hear me.
The reason the FCC has jurisdiction over broadcast television is because it is *broadcast* over publically owned airwaves. The FCC was created to manage a public resource, in an attempt to prevent the 'tragedy of the commons' where unregulated use of a public resource leaves it unusable to anybody.
For those of us who were born prior to the Civil War and are confused by internal combustion engines, cable television does not use the public airwaves. The cable it runs on (although highly subsidized by the government) is not technically a public resource.
No matter how much Don Wildmon would like it to be so, the content of cable television broadcast is not a concern of the FCC. Plus, cable television is sort of... voluntary. If parents think that A&E is a liberal hotbed, or that the programming on ESPN is far too violent, or that the Food Network is showing too many bare breasts during the family hour (chicken breasts are very offensive), then they can opt for the broadcast channels or (GOD FORBID) not have a television.
Thank you.
Further whinging about the car cut for space considerations.
I have said this before, and now I will say it with a larger font in hopes that somebody will hear me.
The reason the FCC has jurisdiction over broadcast television is because it is *broadcast* over publically owned airwaves. The FCC was created to manage a public resource, in an attempt to prevent the 'tragedy of the commons' where unregulated use of a public resource leaves it unusable to anybody.
For those of us who were born prior to the Civil War and are confused by internal combustion engines, cable television does not use the public airwaves. The cable it runs on (although highly subsidized by the government) is not technically a public resource.
No matter how much Don Wildmon would like it to be so, the content of cable television broadcast is not a concern of the FCC. Plus, cable television is sort of... voluntary. If parents think that A&E is a liberal hotbed, or that the programming on ESPN is far too violent, or that the Food Network is showing too many bare breasts during the family hour (chicken breasts are very offensive), then they can opt for the broadcast channels or (GOD FORBID) not have a television.
Thank you.
Further whinging about the car cut for space considerations.
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no subject
Date: 2005-12-08 12:08 am (UTC)Your quote above is exactly why government can interfere. Public money is being used to fund the industry, therefore Congress, being the holder of the public purse, has a right to know how the money is being spent. So, yes, Congress does have some say on what goes on cable, should the cable operators continue to accept public money. There is also the itty-bitty detail that the actual cables used by the industry tend to run through public/municipal lands.
So whether we like it nor not, Congress is within it's rights. The wisdom of holding such hearings? None. What a bloody waste of time.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-08 12:27 am (UTC)