FCC indecency rule struck down by appeals court

July 14, 2010

"FCC indecency rule struck down by appeals court"
By MCT
From MCT

www.joplinglobe.com...

WASHINGTON — In a sharp rebuke of the Bush-era crackdown on foul language on broadcast television and radio, a federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down the government’s near-zero-tolerance indecency policy as a violation of the First Amendment protection of free speech.

The ruling is a major victory for the broadcast TV networks, which jointly sued the Federal Communications Commission in 2006.

Just when I thought tv couln't get any more vulgar.

reply to post by this_is_who_we_are


You see this as a bad thing?

Hello liberal.

Originally posted by this_is_who_we_are
Just when I thought tv couln't get any more vulgar.

Oh, it can, and it probably will, but thankfully you have a variety of options available:

1. Turn the TV off. Read a book. Do something with your family. Why are you even watching content you'd object to?
   
2. So you're not worried about yourself seeing objectionable content, but you're trying to protect your kids? The V-Chip has been installed in every TV manufactured for the US market in the last 10 years.
   
3. Likewise most cable companies have parent locks that can be applied to shows above certain ratings. The system is in place for a reason. Is anyone using it? Or are they just going to continue to be lazy and censor content for the rest of us?
   
4. The "objectionable language" is only going to be happening after the 10pm hour. What are your kids doing watching tv that late anyway?
   

reply to post by this_is_who_we_are


If tv is too vulgar for you then turn it off. Simple.

Just as I have the right to offend you, they have the right to offend you also. If you don't like it, don't spend your time watching it.

I like this ruling. How can anyone do a job if they have to constantly watch over their shoulder because at any time and in many cases arbitrary reasons are used to censor them?

Seriously, they wanted to fine a network a while back for the f-bomb dropped in a war scenario. They were being bombed and they wanted to fine them for that. That is ridiculous.

If the corporations that owned stations were on the up and up then there wouldn't even be a need for the FCC. IMO they are just as useless/corrupt/incompetent as any other government agency/corporation(pretty much the same nowadays).

EDIT for a typo.

[edit on 7/14/2010 by TheLoony]

Thank God for that!

It was getting silly watching American TV shows. The language was just getting so unrealistic. I've noticed over the past few years that the script writers were chaging the dialogue so that there was no swearing in, simply so the networks don't have to censor it out.

Someone gets shot:

"Darn! He shot me! Oh gosh, am I gonna die?"

Fact of life, people swear/curse!

If you're not mature enough to handle a bit of bad language, then you're not mature enough to watch adult TV.

BTW, do they not have a similar system over there that they have here in the UK? Over here there's no bad language and minimal violence and nudity prior to "The Watershed", which is 9pm. After that, anything goes, as it's assumed kids are in bed (or should be anyway).

I think Family Guy probably got it right in this video

I'm not going to post it here, because I'm pretty sure it's got bad language in

Hurrah! I opened a can of worms!
PS: I love Family Guy. How's that for mixed messages?

Originally posted by this_is_who_we_are
Hurrah! I opened a can of worms!
PS: I love Family Guy. How's that for mixed messages?

And you hate vulgar TV?

I've seen some pretty vulgar stuff on FG. Just makes it even funnier!