12.16.2004
Satellite Radio Can Be Indecent
Go ahead and utter "any obscene, indecent, or profane language" on satellite radio. The FCC won't stop you.
The Commission has confirmed that it will not apply its well-exercised rule (47 C.F.R. § 73.3999) enforcing the ever-controversial indecency law (18 U.S.C. § 1464) to satellite radio broadcasts.
No surprise here. FCC Media Bureau Chief W. Kenneth Ferree declined a rulemaking petition submitted by a citizen broadcaster seeking content regulation for satellite programming. Ferree reiterated, “subscription-based services do not call into play the issue of indecency” and "the Commission does not impose regulations regarding indecency on services lacking the indiscriminate access to children that characterizes broadcasting.”
Review the FCC's guidance to the broadcast industry regarding case law interpreting 18 U.S.C. § 1464 and the Commission's enforcement policies.
(Meanwhile, off the air and in print, and not a moment too soon, here's soon-to-be ex-terrestrial radio shock jock Howard Stern in USA Today promoting his upcoming move to Sirius in January 2006.)
Of course, despite the Commission's restraint, over at BuzzMachine, Jeff Jarvis's Dear Santa list includes the simple request: dismantle the FCC.
The Commission has confirmed that it will not apply its well-exercised rule (47 C.F.R. § 73.3999) enforcing the ever-controversial indecency law (18 U.S.C. § 1464) to satellite radio broadcasts.
No surprise here. FCC Media Bureau Chief W. Kenneth Ferree declined a rulemaking petition submitted by a citizen broadcaster seeking content regulation for satellite programming. Ferree reiterated, “subscription-based services do not call into play the issue of indecency” and "the Commission does not impose regulations regarding indecency on services lacking the indiscriminate access to children that characterizes broadcasting.”
Review the FCC's guidance to the broadcast industry regarding case law interpreting 18 U.S.C. § 1464 and the Commission's enforcement policies.
(Meanwhile, off the air and in print, and not a moment too soon, here's soon-to-be ex-terrestrial radio shock jock Howard Stern in USA Today promoting his upcoming move to Sirius in January 2006.)
Of course, despite the Commission's restraint, over at BuzzMachine, Jeff Jarvis's Dear Santa list includes the simple request: dismantle the FCC.
