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July 27, 2006
Congress to Cable: Family Tiers or Censorship
Congress’ summer 2006 pandering tour continued today with yet another call for cable censorship.
Reps. Dan Lipinski (D., Ill.) and Tom Osbourne (R., Neb.) introduced the Family Choice Act, which basically offers cable operators a Hobson’s Choice of providing a la carte “family-tiers” or a threat of being held to the standards that apply to over-the-air broadcasters.
Specifically, the bill gives the cable industry three choices.
• Apply broadcast indecency standards to their programming between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.;
• Offer an opt-out a la carte programming option, such that any channel a subscriber does not want to receive will be blocked, and the subscriber will be provided with a credit on their bill for the channels they block; or
• Allow subscribers to choose a family tier of programming; a family tier is defined to include all the channels in the Expanded Basic Tier, except those that have programming unsuitable for children between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. (programs rated TV-Mature or TV-14), unless that programming is a news program or live sporting event.
That final stipulation of “live sporting event” is a notable attempt at micromanagement. If there is any more contentious debate beyond the mandated creation of family tiers, it’s what channels should be included in one. When Cox introduced family-tier line-up earlier this year, the family-values set was not happy, especially because ESPN, the popular all-sports channel, was not included. (Never mind that it was Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” at a live sporting event that triggered this latest round of censorship threats.) At the time the San Diego Tribune ran an article featuring much of the whining by groups who, like all censors, came off as wanting to ban all channels except their own favorites.
Like the other populist items on the election year agenda—flag burning amendments, gay marriage amendments and Internet gambling bans, this should gain little traction once Congress adjourns. And for those who really do wish to have more control over the entertainment that comes into their homes, the Internet may make true a la carte video possible. More and more shows are being archived on studio sites and by aggregators such as YouTube and Akimbo. AOL offers TV from the fifties and sixties, including the old George Reeves Superman series.
Pretty soon you’ll be able to order only what you want when you want it. There might be a cost per download, but it could compare favorably to monthly cable. Barring that, you can always turn the infernal box off.
Posted by steve.titch at July 27, 2006 02:10 PM
I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
Comment by: Sten35856 at January 22, 2007 02:33 PM
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My mind is like a bunch of nothing, but I guess it doesn't bother me. I haven't been up to anything recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing to speak of.
Comment by: Sten53540 at January 27, 2007 11:34 PM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten78539 at January 28, 2007 08:02 PM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten38876 at January 29, 2007 01:03 AM
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I feel like a complete blank, but I don't care. Pfft. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten43005 at January 29, 2007 03:34 PM
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Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't been up to much these days. I just don't have much to say right now. I can't be bothered with anything , but whatever.
Comment by: Sten32702 at January 29, 2007 04:13 PM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I can't be bothered with anything recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't gotten anything done recently, but oh well. Not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten52057 at January 30, 2007 12:41 AM
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I feel like an empty room, but eh. Nothing seems worth doing. I haven't gotten much done today.
Comment by: Sten39911 at January 30, 2007 07:46 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten43245 at February 1, 2007 12:23 AM
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I've more or less been doing nothing worth mentioning, but eh. My life's been really bland today. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten58489 at February 1, 2007 10:19 AM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but shrug. I just don't have anything to say recently. I haven't gotten much done recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about.
Comment by: Sten45991 at February 1, 2007 05:19 PM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten3940 at February 1, 2007 09:45 PM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten21187 at February 3, 2007 01:16 AM
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I just don't have anything to say right now. I haven't been up to anything recently, but it's not important. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but shrug.
Comment by: Sten94606 at February 3, 2007 05:47 AM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I don't care. I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. Basically not much happening right now. Maybe tomorrow. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten11192 at February 3, 2007 05:03 PM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten11539 at February 3, 2007 09:37 PM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten13699 at February 4, 2007 12:21 PM
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I haven't been up to anything these days. So it goes. I can't be bothered with anything these days.
Comment by: Sten78904 at February 4, 2007 11:08 PM
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Basically nothing noteworthy happening right now, but eh. Today was a complete loss. I haven't been up to much recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten97567 at February 5, 2007 12:35 AM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen, but I don't care. Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten18229 at February 5, 2007 06:59 AM
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Not much on my mind right now, but it's not important. I've just been letting everything happen without me. I just don't have anything to say right now.
Comment by: Sten37879 at February 5, 2007 09:21 PM
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