In the Washington Post, Adam Thierer, a fellow at the The Progress and Freedom Foundation (who doesn’t like progress or freedom?) advocates against extending indecency regulations to cable and satellite:
A troubling shift is underway in how lawmakers censor media in this country. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), chairmen of the Senate and House commerce committees, as well as Kevin Martin, the new head of the Federal Communications Commission, are proposing to broaden federal broadcast “indecency” regulations to cover cable and satellite television.
Boston Phoenix: The next great indecency threat: “The government’s war against what it calls ‘indecency’ has taken a new and dangerous turn. Since the 1920s, regulators have imposed content restrictions under the theory that broadcasters have been licensed to use a scarce, publicly owned resource: the AM and FM frequencies used by radio stations, and the VHF and UHF bands that accommodate over-the-air TV channels. Rules that punish broadcasters for indecent content… may strike many of us as puerile and unnecessary.”
Of course, legislators may have trouble proving that even limiting indecency on cable and satellite are the least speech-restrictive means to limiting the spread of “indecent programming.” Both cable and satellite are access-controlled media that empower the individual subscriber to control what channels are available in the subscriber’s house.
Esquire magazine tries to push back against indecency regulation: Esquire’s Howard Stern, American
The FCC knows no bounds in its effort to interfere in the home entertainment of all Americans and means to plunder our HBO and ravage our satellite radio. Let it be known that this complaint is about much more than the abridged rights of one Howard Stern and rather means to condemn the current atmosphere of censure in which we find ourselves today living. Such an atmosphere is anathema to a free society, in which one has a right to give offense (as long as public safety is not imperiled) and one is free to disregard this speech or counter with an opposing viewpoint.
USA Today examines the chilling effect increased commission scrutiny on indecency regulation is having on broadcasters: Indecent or not? TV, radio walk fuzzy line: “Many radio stations have dropped or edited songs such as the Rolling Stones’ Bitch. Some TV networks are covering cleavage and blurring the posteriors of cartoon characters. And even some cable channels, though free from indecency constraints, are reviewing programs more closely to try to stave off regulation.”
