Sen. Stevens(R) to push for cable and satellite censorship

Senator Bids to Extend Indecency Rules to Cable
Industry Defends Its Self-Policing Activities as Sufficient

By Frank Ahrens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 2, 2005

Cable television shows packed with sex and profanity, such as HBO's "Deadwood," FX's "Nip/Tuck" and Comedy Central's "South Park," would be subject to the same indecency regulations that govern over-the-air broadcasts if the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee has his way.

Currently, the Federal Communications Commission has the authority to fine only over-the-air radio and television broadcasters for violating its indecency regulations, which forbid airing sexual or excretory material between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children are most likely watching.

But Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) told a group of broadcasters yesterday that he wants to extend that authority to cover the hundreds of cable and satellite television and radio channels that operate outside of the government's control. In addition to basic cable channels such as ESPN, Discovery and MTV, that would include premium channels such as HBO and Showtime and the two satellite radio services, XM and Sirius. "We put restrictions on the over-the-air signals," Stevens said after his address to the National Association of Broadcasters, according to news reports confirmed by his staff. "I think we can put restrictions on cable itself. At least I intend to do my best to push that."

~snip~

Also yesterday, David H. Solomon -- as head of the FCC's enforcement bureau, the man who investigates all indecency complaints -- told his staff that he would leave in May after 18 years in the job. Solomon, who stayed largely under the radar for most of his career, achieved a measure of fame in 2003 when his division ruled that a profanity uttered by U2 singer Bono during a live NBC awards broadcast was not indecent, essentially because the musician used it as an adjective rather than a noun. Late-night comics and commentators lampooned the decision, which later was reversed by the five-member FCC commission. The commission noted that Solomon correctly had applied the decency rules to Bono's profanity, but that it led to a result that made it appear the FCC condoned the use of "the f-word," as Chairman Michael K. Powell called it, on television.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64548-2005Mar1.html

Oh, I forgot, that's only for miners, loggers and drillers.

More repuke bullshit.