FCC Indecency Rules Don't Apply to Satellite Radio

SirTwitchALot writes "The FCC has announced that Satellite radio services do not have to comply with the same indecency requirements as traditional broadcasters. Apparently this decision was brought forth by the complaint of a traditional radio station owner, stating that the FCC needs to "level the playing field." Chalk up a win for continued freedom on subscription services."

DUH

[Lord Kano]

It's like Cable TV. They don't have to adhere to the same standards as traditional broadcast stations. On comedy central they use language like "Pussy" and "Dick" sometimes, you're not likely to hear that on CBS any time soon.

LK

Re:You PAY for satellite radio

[ALpaca2500]

i don't think they do... Comedy Central can broadcast whatever the hell they want, e.g. the south park movie, in its entirety, uncensored...

Re:TV is subscription too

[pdkrocul]

Because TV broadcasts over the "people's airwaves".
Cable TV subscribers often forget that many people in the US don't have cable, and rely on over the air broadcasts.
The FCC controls the process that TV stations follow to obtain a broascast license.
The bigger question is how did the FCC evolve from a technical organization to a decency enforcer?

pornography and satellite TV

[Anonymous Coward]

I am completely broke so I certainly will not be buying a satellite dish for a long, long time, but recently I became curious about pornographic satellite TV in the US and Europe for some reason. I don't recall what sparked it, but I think I wanted to know if European pornography channels reached the US. I'll explain what I learned, although take this all with a grain of salt and double-check it.

There are two major types of satellite in the US. One is TVRO, or "BUD" which uses a large dish and receives mostly on the C band (although I believe it can do ku band) - it uses fairly open standards. The other is DBS (Direct Broadcast System) which uses a mini-dish and receives I believe exclusively on the Ku band - it uses very closed standards. Originally TVRO was more popular, but DBS has become more popular over the years. DirecTV, Echostar's DISH network and a new service called Voom are three American DBS companies.

Looking at broadcast maps, it occurred to me that signals seem to be confined to a continent. European porn channels are mostly confined to Europe, American porn channels are mostly confined to North America. I didn't see any satellite that spanned the Atlantic with its signal. Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah or Tennessee and the City of Cincinatti, Ohio have laws against the content of American porn satellite channels, so satellite companies won't sell to subscribers there (or will limit what they can get). Southern states legislatures probably have an effect on the rest of the country, European satellite TV can show a lot of content that American TV can not. But the adult content Americans can get from Europe is limited, if any, at least from what I could see - correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyhow, I'll look up some specifics about the various channels (like TEN, Playboy etc.) and post it as a reply to this message a little later.

Re:TV is subscription too

[Weeb]

No, TV is not subscription too. The broadcast networks can be picked up by anyone with a brain and a half-functioning set -- including children.

Premium cable services like Cinemax and HBO require considerable effort to procure, thus cursing and even softcore smut is permissable on these services. Just like satellite. If Satellite could be censored, you could say goodbye to The Sopranos' 2006 season, among many other shows with content and dialogue that might be "questionable." Hurrah for the FCC.

This time.

Re:Hey FCC, that's good but for an encore...

[Anonymous Coward]

ever watch it after 10pm? they've been airing movies uncut for a while now. one example being South Park.

as said above somewhere, it's the advertisers that are controlling the content on cable.

Re:pornography and satellite TV

[HarveyBirdman]

A couple of the DirecTV pr0n channels- The Hot Network and Spice Platinum- show a lot of EU porn.

What the FCC does

[Infonaut]

Spectrum management. Period.

I was unclear on what the bounds of the FCC's mandate actually are, so I did some checking. According to the FCC [fcc.gov]:

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent United States government agency, directly responsible to Congress. The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934 and is charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. The FCC's jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. possessions.

The FCC has 16 bureaus and offices, including the Enforcement Bureau [fcc.gov], which enforces the Communications Act. The Bureau sees its mission thusly: Through firm, fast, flexible and fair enforcement of the Communications Act and the FCC's rules, promote competition, protect consumers and foster efficient use of the spectrum while furthering public safety goals.

The FCC reports directly to Congress, and it seems Congress has given the FCC the responsibility of policing the airwaves on certain matters: t is a violation of federal law to broadcast obscene, profane or indecent programming. The prohibition is set forth at Title 18 United States Code, Section 1464 (18 U.S.C. 1464). Congress has given the Federal Communications Commission the responsibility for administratively enforcing 18 U.S.C. 1464. In doing so, the Commission may issue a warning, impose a monetary forfeiture or revoke a station license for the broadcast of obscene, profane or indecent material.

I'm not sure if this fits into the original mandate of the FCC, but since it was established as an agency that reports directly to Congress, and Congress gave it the power to watch out for indecency, it seems that the FCC is about more than spectrum management.

Re:"Privately owned"

[Catbeller]

Arg. I proclaim there was no Janet Jackson debacle. There was a manufactured debacle on the sadly (now) right-wing cable news channels, right wing radio and most importantly a few "decency" (right wing churches SEE: southern, baptist, fundamentalist ) groups flooded the FCC with complaints. In 2003, 99.8 percent of the complaints come from the Parents Television Council [mediaweek.com]. Here's a sample:

What Powell did not reveal--apparently because he was unaware--was the source of the complaints. According to a new FCC estimate obtained by Mediaweek, nearly all indecency complaints in 2003--99.8 percent--were filed by the Parents Television Council, an activist group.

This year, the trend has continued, and perhaps intensified.

Through early October, 99.9 percent of indecency complaints--aside from those concerning the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl halftime show broadcast on CBS-- were brought by the PTC, according to the FCC analysis dated Oct. 1. (The agency last week estimated it had received 1,068,767 complaints about broadcast indecency so far this year; the Super Bowl broadcast accounted for over 540,000, according to commissioners' statements.)

A small fundamentalist group is, with Bush and Powell's avid help, bringing down a blanket of censorship on America.

Re:WTF!?! this is totally stupid

[spectecjr]

And it looks like you're in the minority. The FCC DOES do what the majority of people want and the majority DON'T want Janet's breast on OTA broadcasts. The majority DO want censorship to that degree. Just because you feel the right to something doesn't make your opinion the majority opinion.

Incorrect. 98% of all complaints to the FCC come from ONE single lobbying organization. [mediaweek.com]

That's not the majority. That's a lobbying group with an agenda they want to push.