Congress could be preparing another round of Internet “decency” wars.
Senator Ted Stevens, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has suggested that decency regulations could be inserted into legislation that was intended to raise fines for “indecent” radio and TV broadcasts.The senator also suggested that indecency rules be extended to include cable and satellite as well. “We’re looking to create tiers, or create a system like the movie business…to let us develop a ratings system,” said Stevens.
“We ought to find some way to say, here is a block of channels, whether it’s delivered by broadband, by VoIP, by whatever it is, to a home, that is clear of the stuff you don’t want your children to see,” the Alaska Republican said Friday. (VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol.)
Stevens didn’t explain how decency regulations would work for braodband or VoIP, and spokepersons declined to comment on the question.
The first round in the Internet decency wars was launched nearly a decade ago when the U.S. Congress enacted the Communications Decency Act. This law imposed punishment for the transmission of indecent or “patently offensive” material of up to two years in prison and fines of $250,000. However, in 1997, the Supreme Court rejected those portions of the law.
The court’s opinion did not make any statements about the constitutionality of a law that requires certain types of web publishers to rate sexually explicit sites by using the Platform for Internet Content Selection, which is built into the Internet Explorer browser.
“It looks like Stevens is talking about some sort of ratings system for the Internet,” said Marv Johnson, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. “But you really can’t have the FCC or the federal government be the taste police for the American citizens. It’s just not going to work.”
Senator Stevens committee is reviewing an decency bill, which was already approved by the House of Representatives, that would raise the maximum fines for radio and TV broadcasters. Earlier this month, Stevens stated that he wanted to broaden the bill to include cable and satellite.
The Federal Communications Commission has defined indecency to include everything from Howard Stern’s broadcasts to certain four-letter words. Certain conservative groups are alarmed by the possibility to expansion of the broadcast decency bill, and warn that lobbying from cable and satellite providers could reduce the legislation’s chances of being approved and enacted.
“We would hope that there would be legislation to control the onslaught of the Internet,” said Randy Sharp, director of special projects at the American Family Association. “The best approach would be for Sen. Stevens to address this issue in a separate bill. If it’s attached, it will get bogged down.”
Some speculate that Stevens’ remarks indicate he’s concerned with the trend of movies and TV shows available for download over the internet. This material is outside the FCC’s domain.
“I think Stevens is probably laying the groundwork for another assault on speech online,” said Adam Thierer, a senior fellow at the free-market Progress and Freedom Foundation.
“He’s obviously pointing the way to other members of Congress, saying that if they want to control the media, they have to start at cable and satellite first and then target the Internet…This foreshadows the coming debate we’ll have over IP-enabled services in the video space,” predicted Thierer.
Stevens has a history of being concerned with sexually explicit material on the internet. Last year, Stevens co-authored a letter to the Federal Trade Commission requesting that peer-to-peer networks be investigated since they provide access to unrestricted online pornography.
