The PTC and their lackeys at the FCC are at it again.
A government crackdown on indecent programming resulted in a proposed fine of $3.6 million against dozens of CBS stations and affiliates on Wednesday - a record penalty from the Federal Communications Commission.The FCC said an episode of the CBS crime drama “Without a Trace” that aired in December 2004 was indecent. It cited the graphic depiction of “teenage boys and girls participating in a sexual orgy.”
99% of all indecency complaints come from the ComplainBot at the Parents Television Council. The PTC’s Action Alert page even tells you what to be offended by, and fills in the details of your complaint for you so you can complain about programming you haven’t watched.
The history of this particular episode of Without A Trace is illustrative. After it aired the first time, the PTC minions used the bot to complain about it en masse as directed. The FCC dismissed the copy-and-paste complaints in return for a $3.5 million payment. CBS then had the gall to re-air the episode, even though the PTC had clearly identified it as Something You Shouldn’t Be Allowed To Watch. So the minions used the bot to complain again, and the FCC lackeys gave in this time.
Here’s a news flash for the “private market” censors at the PTC. When you use the power of government to get rid of what you don’t like, it is censorship, making this ridiculous argument even more ridiculous:
The First Amendment begins: Congress shall make no law… and is supposed to limit the powers of the federal government only. The Parents Television Council is not a federal entity or a legislative body. It has neither the power to forbid programming nor the desire for the government to ban legal programming. Instead, the PTC operates by providing members and advertisers with information about the content of programs. Where prime time programming contains significant amounts of material unsuitable for children in a timeslot and venue where children presumably have access to that material, the PTC asks advertisers to reconsider their sponsorship of the program.
In the PTC’s view, of course, using the off button or changing the channel isn’t enough:
Merely changing the channel is essentially to accept what is on that channel, and admit powerlessness to change what is on one’s own television. To be forced to change the channel is to accept the loss of additional stations to unhealthy content and to expect similar material to one day appear on the next channel.
Got that? The mere existence of an episode of Without a Trace dealing with teenage sexual activity, a show which is rated TV-PG or TV-14 and which airs at 10 pm ET, is so threatening to the heads-under-rocks censors at the PTC that they encourage a crackdown by government.
These people need to get a life. Judging from their list of best TV programming, one assumes that said life would not include television.
Update: More from Jeff Jarvis
