Senate committee passes bill to outlaw "fleeting" f-bombs

[babylonsister]

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070720-senate-a-single-curse-word-is-one-too-many.html

Senate committee passes bill to outlaw "fleeting" f-bombs

By Nate Anderson | Published: July 20, 2007 - 12:21PM CT

A recent decision from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals made the occasional f-bomb safe for network viewing, but some senators now want to ensure that even a single blue comment or image can be grounds for an FCC slapdown.

S. 1780, the Protecting Children from Indecent Programming Act, has just cleared the Senate Commerce Committee and is now on its way to the full Senate. The bill, only a few sentences long, makes it clear that the FCC has the ability to regulate even fleeting uses of indecent words and images.

The Second Circuit ruled earlier this year that such a policy change (the FCC formerly focused on material that "dwells" on indecent content) was "arbitrary and capricious." Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV) and Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) then introduced the bill to give the FCC a good reason for its actions, and it found support from the two aging chairmen of the Senate Commerce Committee, Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Ted "Bridge to Nowhere" Stevens (R-AK).

During a committee meeting, Stevens told his colleagues, "Radio and broadcast TV are still the way most Americans get their news and entertainment. And whether sitting in a car with your children or in front of the TV, the American public should be able to expect that they will not be barraged with unexpected indecency, whether it is through an image or a word."

The bill would still allow the FCC to consider single words and images in context, and it does not issue any guidance on whether any particular words or images are indecent. Still, we're pretty sure Nicole Ritchie's "Have you ever tried to get cow sh-- out of a Prada purse? It's not so f------ simple" was the sort of thing senators had in mind as being ripe for censorship.

Filed under: FCC, Senate, indecency, Law

[villager]

1. More reason(s) we need viable third parties...

n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. What a couple of fucks.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. No

It's they're couple of FCCs.

[Toasterlad]

5. Tee Hee!

[Birthmark]

3. Great.

Bush declare himself above the law and able to grab the property of dissenters...and the Senate has time to worry about "bad words" on TV. Just fucking great!

[truebrit71]

6. Do these FUCKERS have nothing more FUCKING important to FUCKING work on?

Jeesus FUCKING H. Christ on a FUCKING bike..

THIS, is the most important use of their FUCKING time?

FUCKING ASSHOLES!!!

[Warren Stupidity]

9. Fuck no!

Too BUSY doing THIS FUCKING IDIOCY to let a mere IMPEACHMENT FOR TREASON get in the way.

[Richard Steele]

7. Think it's hard getting bullshit out of a purse? Try getting it out of the fucking Congress!

Now THAT'S hard!

[Warren Stupidity]

8. Nation of Morons!

Fuck us we are getting exactly what we deserve.

[sandnsea]

10. A completely fucked news media

No worries about that. Just keep the children safe from the "f" word. *sigh*

Has there ever been a nation where the people were so completely coddled and kept in a cocoon?

[dipsydoodle]

11. So how come they're allowed to say

Bush ? Can't think of a worse four letter word than that.

[sinkingfeeling]

12. And all those darling, innocent children are never, ever taken out to public places like

malls, restaurants, or movie theaters, where the common American lingo is made up of F**k and sh*t? I haven't been near a gaggle of teenagers in a decade that didn't use such language in very loud voices.

[Warren Stupidity]

15. Who will protect the kittens? nt.

[C_U_L8R]

13. fuck !

[Warpy]

14. Yeah, protect the fucking children, all right

because you fucking know they don't hear that kind of fucking language from their fucking parents.

What fucking planet do those people live on?

[Rabrrrrrr]

16. DAMMIT! Why not a S. 1780, the Protecting Children from Indecent STARVING TO DEATH act?!

FUCKING ASSHOLES!!

[Warren DeMontague]

17. Well fuckitty-fuck-fuck-fuck fuck-fuckfuck, fuckitty fuck fuck fuck.

Fuck.