Saturday, July 15, 2006
Idle time at the FCC
From the "This Bureaucracy doesn't have anything better to do" Department: MSNBC reports that the FCC is reviewing TV footage from sporting events for indecency.
In its continuing crackdown on on-air profanity, the FCC has requested numerous tapes from broadcasters that might include vulgar remarks from unruly spectators, coaches and athletes at live sporting events, industry sources said.Or, if they are like some local police departments, maybe the fines they levy fund their operations:
Tapes requested by the commission include live broadcasts of football games and NASCAR races where the participants or the crowds let loose with an expletive. While commission officials refused to talk about its requests, one broadcast company executive said the commission had asked for 30 tapes of live sports and news programs.
Under a new law approved by Congress and signed by President Bush, broadcasters face fines of as much as $325,000 per violation, up from a previous maximum of $32,500.Ugh. That's enough to make me vote for the Democrats.
