http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/03/28/business/decency.html
This sounds like bad news for people who enjoy the only good shows left on TV, shows on cable stations like HBO. As a Canadian, I won't be directly affected by any FCC changes but anything that chills creative freedom worries me a great deal. I watch a fair number of shows from the US and would hate to see these programs become sanitized to appease the Parents Television Council.
I'm also willing to bet that the real targets won't be the actual porn producers since they're such loyal Republican contributors. My guess is that shows like Deadwood will be turned into the force that is corrupting the morals of the nation. The scary part for me was that the PTC and their leader Brent Bozell seems to be indicating that there is bipartisan support in Congress for this. What are Democrats doing cozying up to these people?
What I don't understand is why more media groups aren't taking the offensive against these busybodies. In 2000, Brent Bozell and the PTC tried to take on the World Wrestling Federation for being "vulgar and violent" and blamed the WWF for the deaths of a couple of children who were said to be imitating wrestling moves. They also pressured sponsors to pull their ads with the WWF. In response, the WWF sued the PTC and the PTC actually settled, giving the WWF 3.5 million dollars and Brent Bozell personally apologized to WWF owner Vince McMahon.
http://msn.eonline.com/News/Items/Pf/0%2C1527%2C7374%2C00.html
http://us.imdb.com/news/sb/2002-07-08#tv4
People need to stand up to these losers and not allow them to control what people watch. Networks need to use the same tactics, sue for financial damages caused by the negative publicity these groups cause. If I was a network exec, I'd turn my network into a martyr for the First Amendment.
I know that many people hate the comparison, but from an outsider's perspective these types of moves seem like a few more baby steps towards a fascist society. Repressive societies around the world not only censor the news media but also attempt to control the arts. Nazi Germany was famous for their attempts to create ideologically pure art that promoted the values of the state. Groups like the PTC are unapologetic about their mission to control the standards of decency and good taste. The recent spate of articles about the College Republicans stifling free speech on campuses doesn't seem awfully far from the brownshirts beating up enemies of the Reich.
I hope that this creeping censorship and push for "decency" in entertainment can be stopped. It's just one more step in the stifling of dissent and creativity as the Christian right tries to impose their morality on the rest of the population.