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Despite being called "conservative", people on the right tend to value free expression for all, even when it involves ideas that they don't agree with. They find the concepts of censorship, content moderation and banning people to be abhorrent concepts, and won't even subject their opponents to such things.

Let me see if I understand what you wrote: Is Parents Television Council a "conservative" organization? If so, how does a mission "to protect children and families from graphic sex, violence and profanity in the media, because of their proven long-term harmful effects" mesh with "free expression"?

Most of the people complaining have never watched it. They are just writing letters because that's what the group is rallying against this week. The kind of people who write letters to the FCC aren't the ones who stay up late to watch pay cable.

Here's their blog.

The FCC did enact a rule discounting special interest group complaints, which had an interesting side effect of well, moving them onto bigger and better things.

Like Apple's App Store started seeing huge increases in the number of app complaints for porn apps after a PTC campaign. And after that, they started targeting other marketplaces as well.

Religion is, again, to blame for this. We should exercise the right of freedom of religion to also be freedom FROM religion.

Apparently people do care about my children. Like these dicks:
http://www.parentstv.org/

I wish some people would stop caring for my children.

If more people cared about their children we'd need less people caring about our children!

Unfortunately there are a lot of people who treat their children as accessories or side effects of sex and that's why those sort of sites spring up, to take place of people actually needing to care for their children. How about people actually watch TV with their children or *gasp* turn it off and go places or play some intelligent games?

Ahh well, stepping off the soapbox now...

You would be surprised how many system are the sames one from 30 years ago.

About your Sig:
Apparently people do care about my children. Like these dicks:
http://www.parentstv.org/

I wish some people would stop caring for my children.

Check it out, you'll see they are against violence as well.

Check out the Parent's Television Council website. With a little searching, you will see that they are opposed to violence as well. It's too bad for you, but fortunately sex movies are not very hard to find.

Society isn't about being win-win for everyone, it's about finding a way we can all live together.

Bollocks.

I don't want them filtering my internet any more than I want them filtering my mail, my TV, or my radio. Unfortunately the FCC seems to have take upon itself to filter broadcast TV and radio. A power they were never granted by the people. They just took it; largely in response to a really whiny special interest group. An organization made up of a mere 1.3 million (~0.4% of the US population!) uptight fucks have almost single handedly managed to get all the real life stuff banned from TV. They're responsible for 99.9% of complaints (which is the only thing the FCC acts on) in 2003.

I don't want asshats like this sucking the life out of the internet like they have TV and radio.

Ah, the Parents Television Council, a bastion of free speech for the good old USA.
This ridiculous group's website basically consists of a "Type exactly what we tell you to type, regardless of whether or not you actually saw and/or were offended by it" webform to send complaints directly to the FCC.
Most of the time, the forms are even already filled in (for convenience of course) and just need you to type your name and click "Send".

What we first need to do is change the FCC so that it's not headed by appointed officials, but rather by elected representatives.

The FCC's power has grown far beyond it's original intention (regulating airwaves frequencies in the U.S.). Apparently they only do things in response to complaints. Or at least that's how it once was. But the really fucked up thing is 99% of complaints come from one organization.

So essentially this one single organization is responsible for most of the - detrimental in my opinion - changes to what is allowed to be broadcast or not.

It's not the popular decision. People just think it is because this one fucked up organization has such broad powers and people just assume that it's the popular opinion. It is not.

The organization responsible for all this? The Parent's Television Council. The sick thing is they're proud to be the nation's most influential advocacy organization yet have barely a million members. That's right one million uptight fucks are responsible for 99.8-99.9% of all FCC regulation that affects 303 million people.

And the FCC allows it.

To other countries: The US is not up tight! Most of us love a good nipple on TV. It's this one organization that has been acting via the screwed up joke that is our FCC that has watered down our TV, not popular opinion.

What we first need to do is change the FCC so that it's not headed by appointed officials, but rather by elected representatives.

The FCC's power has grown far beyond it's original intention (regulating airwaves frequencies in the U.S.). Apparently they only do things in response to complaints. Or at least that's how it once was. But the really fucked up thing is 99% of complaints come from one organization.

So essentially this one single organization is responsible for most of the - detrimental in my opinion - changes to what is allowed to be broadcast or not.

It's not the popular decision. People just think it is because this one fucked up organization has such broad powers and people just assume that it's the popular opinion. It is not.

The organization responsible for all this? The Parent's Television Council. The sick thing is they're proud to be the nation's most influential advocacy organization yet have barely a million members. That's right one million uptight fucks are responsible for 99.8-99.9% of all FCC regulation that affects 303 million people.

And the FCC allows it.

To other countries: The US is not up tight! Most of us love a good nipple on TV. It's this one organization that has been acting via the screwed up joke that is our FCC that has watered down our TV, not popular opinion.

What we first need to do is change the FCC so that it's not headed by appointed officials, but rather by elected representatives.

The FCC's power has grown far beyond it's original intention (regulating airwaves frequencies in the U.S.). Apparently they only do things in response to complaints. Or at least that's how it once was. But the really fucked up thing is 99% of complaints come from one organization.

So essentially this one single organization is responsible for most of the - detrimental in my opinion - changes to what is allowed to be broadcast or not.

It's not the popular decision. People just think it is because this one fucked up organization has such broad powers and people just assume that it's the popular opinion. It is not.

The organization responsible for all this? The Parent's Television Council. The sick thing is they're proud to be the nation's most influential advocacy organization yet have barely a million members. That's right one million uptight fucks are responsible for 99.8-99.9% of all FCC regulation that affects 303 million people.

And the FCC allows it.

To other countries: The US is not up tight! Most of us love a good nipple on TV. It's this one organization that has been acting via the screwed up joke that is our FCC that has watered down our TV, not popular opinion.

In what major Western Country can religion impose restrictions on free speech?

Perhaps you've not heard of the Parent's Television Council, and the fact that they generate the vast majority of all obscenity complaints to the FCC.

So now, screw it, they're going to play the game, and it turns out that gaming is a fricking huge industry, and they can blow a ton of money on legislation that is favorable to them.

Well, given that the PTV say's this on their website...

World of Warcraft is incredibly fun to play [...] there is a fair amount of violence-some of it bloody, references to alcohol, and occasionally a subtle sexual innuendo.

They don't sound so bad. (ah, the power of the ellipsis. hehe =P )

In all seriousness, does the PTV support Disney movies? Because that pretty much sums up Aladdin, Lion King, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, among others. I have to admit, their site is pretty interesting. They actual do a fair amount of Video Game coverage (from WoW, to Lego Star Wars, to Halo) with a family spin. But I completely object to this: "Halo 2, Educational value: None". ;)

Cheers,
Fozzy

What we first need to do is change the FCC so that it's not headed by appointed officials, but rather by elected representatives.

The FCC's power has grown far beyond it's original intention (regulating airwaves frequencies in the U.S.). Apparently they only do things in response to complaints. Or at least that's how it once was. But the really fucked up thing is 99% of complaints come from one organization.

So essentially this one single organization is responsible for most of the - detrimental in my opinion - changes to what is allowed to be broadcast or not.

It's not the popular decision. People just think it is because this one fucked up organization has such broad powers and people just assume that it's the popular opinion. It is not.

The organization responsible for all this? The Parent's Television Council. The sick thing is they're proud to be the nation's most influential advocacy organization yet have barely a million members. That's right one million up tight fucks are responsible for 99.8-99.9% of all FCC regulation that affects 303 million people.

And the FCC allows it.

What we first need to do is change the FCC so that it's not headed by appointed officials, but rather by elected representatives.

The FCC's power has grown far beyond it's original intention (regulating airwaves frequencies in the U.S.). Apparently they only do things in response to complaints. Or at least that's how it once was. But the really fucked up thing is 99% of complaints come from one organization.

So essentially this one single organization is responsible for most of the - detrimental in my opinion - changes to what is allowed to be broadcast or not.

It's not the popular decision. People just think it is because this one fucked up organization has such broad powers and people just assume that it's the popular opinion. It is not.

The organization responsible for all this? The Parent's Television Council. The sick thing is they're proud to be the nation's most influential advocacy organization yet have barely a million members. That's right one million up tight fucks are responsible for 99.8-99.9% of all FCC regulation that affects 303 million people.

And the FCC allows it.

What we first need to do is change the FCC so that it's not headed by appointed officials, but rather by elected representatives.

The FCC's power has grown far beyond it's original intention (regulating airwaves frequencies in the U.S.). Apparently they only do things in response to complaints. Or at least that's how it once was. But the really fucked up thing is 99% of complaints come from one organization.

So essentially this one single organization is responsible for most of the - detrimental in my opinion - changes to what is allowed to be broadcast or not.

It's not the popular decision. People just think it is because this one fucked up organization has such broad powers and people just assume that it's the popular opinion. It is not.

The organization responsible for all this? The Parent's Television Council. The sick thing is they're proud to be the nation's most influential advocacy organization yet have barely a million members. That's right one million up tight fucks are responsible for 99.8-99.9% of all FCC regulation that affects 303 million people.

And the FCC allows it.

Their job is to regulate the spectrum in the public's interest. If the public complains about [sex/language/violence/other] on the public spectrum, then isn't it the FCC's job to regulate [X]?

Try here and especially here.

I could not agree more. After watching the teen orgy from Without A Trace, I had to wonder what was so offensive about it. I mean, its a night time drama, aimed at adults. It's not like they had little dancing, beeping, cartoon characters advertising this show. If there were children watching it, they were most likely watching it because the parents were watching.

I'm sure they were so offended by that clip because they were actually aroused by the idea, and this caused a bit of double think, which turned it into sexual repression. Maybe they were jealous they didnt think of it when they were kids?

Heres the clip of the 'teen orgy' that won CBS this fine.

If they decide to block direct linking to the video, go to "parents tv". The link to the video will be in the middle of the page inside the little box saying something like WARNING TAKE CAUTION

This way, you can not only view the clip, but see how over-the-top upset they were about it. we also have the added benefit of sucking their bandwidth dry.

Any organization willing to focus so much time trying to decide what I, as an adult, get to watch on TV in the name of protecting THEIR children, makes me a bit nervous.

I could not agree more. After watching the teen orgy from Without A Trace, I had to wonder what was so offensive about it. I mean, its a night time drama, aimed at adults. It's not like they had little dancing, beeping, cartoon characters advertising this show. If there were children watching it, they were most likely watching it because the parents were watching.

I'm sure they were so offended by that clip because they were actually aroused by the idea, and this caused a bit of double think, which turned it into sexual repression. Maybe they were jealous they didnt think of it when they were kids?

Heres the clip of the 'teen orgy' that won CBS this fine.

If they decide to block direct linking to the video, go to "parents tv". The link to the video will be in the middle of the page inside the little box saying something like WARNING TAKE CAUTION

This way, you can not only view the clip, but see how over-the-top upset they were about it. we also have the added benefit of sucking their bandwidth dry.

Any organization willing to focus so much time trying to decide what I, as an adult, get to watch on TV in the name of protecting THEIR children, makes me a bit nervous.

I could not agree more. After watching the teen orgy from Without A Trace, I had to wonder what was so offensive about it. I mean, its a night time drama, aimed at adults. It's not like they had little dancing, beeping, cartoon characters advertising this show. If there were children watching it, they were most likely watching it because the parents were watching.

I'm sure they were so offended by that clip because they were actually aroused by the idea, and this caused a bit of double think, which turned it into sexual repression. Maybe they were jealous they didnt think of it when they were kids?

Heres the clip of the 'teen orgy' that won CBS this fine.

If they decide to block direct linking to the video, go to "parents tv". The link to the video will be in the middle of the page inside the little box saying something like WARNING TAKE CAUTION

This way, you can not only view the clip, but see how over-the-top upset they were about it. we also have the added benefit of sucking their bandwidth dry.

Any organization willing to focus so much time trying to decide what I, as an adult, get to watch on TV in the name of protecting THEIR children, makes me a bit nervous.

Thanks for the link. This site is awesome. They rip and host all the best stuff from TV so I don't have to hunt for it myself. I just did a search for all the wmvs on their site and there's some good stuff like this Family Guy Clip

Ignoring all the knee-jerk reactions, you should watch the video yourself before you post.
Here: http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/action/withoutatrace/ content.htm [wmv alert]

Rated PG and airing at 10PM on CBS, it's a drunken teen party where everybody not afraid to find a partner (or 2, 3, ...) and get busy. Granted, that's not what the show is all about.

According to CBS.com:
WITHOUT A TRACE is a riveting procedural drama about the New York Missing Persons Squad of the FBI. The sole responsibility of the special task force is to find missing persons by applying advanced psychological profiling techniques to peel back the layers of the victims' lives and trace their whereabouts in an effort to discover whether they have been abducted, been murdered, committed suicide or simply run away. The team reconstructs a "Day of Disappearance" timeline that details every minute of the 24 hours prior to the disappearance and digs into every facet of the victim's life, following one simple rule: learn who the victim is in order to learn where the victim is.

Watered down CSI? Maybe. The show focuses on teen victims, so that probably explains the placement of that scene (flashback, actually).

I really don't think CBS deserved this, but they'll likely take it for fear of negative PR. It shows at 10PM for chrissake's! Who watches TV at that hour and isn't a pervert?

2c

http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/clips/worst/WithoutaT race_orgy.wmv

That's not an 'orgy', that's underwear sex.

There's a huge difference. Or so I hear...

Seriously, this isn't with 3.6 mil, no way, no how. I mean, I could barely get off to it...

Go slashdot hoard!

The clip (illegally?) hosted by them

For a little while I thought we were moving in the right direction, uncensored comedy central on certain nights, and swearing during primetime on TNT (swearing in both cases). I guess not.

There's no actual nudity in the clip anyway, yet we get to watch Saving Private Ryan uncensored on a broadcast network. HUH?

And I dutifully have to laugh at the url: http://www.parentstv.org/

I posted this in another thread, here's the clip in question, thoughtfully brought to you by the Parents' Television Council! Let's hear a round of applause for their diligence in bringing teenage orgy footage online.

http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/action/withoutatrace/ content.htm

http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/action/withoutatrace/ content.htm

Here is a link to the clip in question.

You can decide for yourself if it constitutes a "teenage orgy" or not

Here is a link to that Without A Trace episode.
http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/bw/2005/ 0102worst.asp

BTW offtopic, but can anyone point me to the Without a Trace episode that got fined by the FCC? December 31, 2004, I believe. I want to see what CBS got fined for and supposedly won't broadcast ever again.

A great plot summary and video preview of the "offensive" part (wmv) is available from (I'm not kidding) the Parents Television Council:

Parents Television Council Presents: Worst TV Show of the Week

Content from the December 31, 2004 Episode of CBS's "Without a Trace"

BTW offtopic, but can anyone point me to the Without a Trace episode that got fined by the FCC? December 31, 2004, I believe. I want to see what CBS got fined for and supposedly won't broadcast ever again.

A great plot summary and video preview of the "offensive" part (wmv) is available from (I'm not kidding) the Parents Television Council:

Parents Television Council Presents: Worst TV Show of the Week

Content from the December 31, 2004 Episode of CBS's "Without a Trace"

BTW offtopic, but can anyone point me to the Without a Trace episode that got fined by the FCC? December 31, 2004, I believe. I want to see what CBS got fined for and supposedly won't broadcast ever again.

A great plot summary and video preview of the "offensive" part (wmv) is available from (I'm not kidding) the Parents Television Council:

Parents Television Council Presents: Worst TV Show of the Week

Content from the December 31, 2004 Episode of CBS's "Without a Trace"

As far as your request goes, the Parents' Television Council has thoughtfully provided a clip of the scene in question! (A teenage orgy). How nice of them ;-)

http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/action/withoutatrace/ content.htm

I haven't watched it, since I'm at work, so I don't know how long it is or if it's censored. Enjoy!

Take a look at the FCCs website for the statistics of this organization. 99% of all indecency complaints originate from the PTC. In fact, this link shows that 99.8% of all complaints originate from this organization.

Just like the minority christian evangelicals raising the biggest stink about supposed religious harassment/infringement, this organization has the loudest mouth about indecency issues.

If you look at this page from the PTC you can see how many complaints they've filed about tv shows in 2004/2005. Look at some of the shows they've complained about. CSI, Big Brother and NCIS.

While my comment might seem like a troll, as one moderator apparently thinks, the facts seem to support my statement.

But personally, I think the baby CAN eat steak. My kid's growing up listening to Snoop and watching John Woo. For some reason, I worry more about deprivation of culture than about potentially unlocking a sociopath. But more importantly, to say ratings systems have nothing to do with censorship ignores the chilling effects of centralized speech guidelines. Content producers constantly strive to comply with arbitrary ratings systems contrived by the MPAA or ESRB. Effectively, ratings ARE censorship. We'd be better off with decentralized ratings boards, and each community could listen to the ones it respected the most. People who want more restricted content already do that, they consult Parents Television Council or something similar. Since people with more restrictive values will already fend for themselves, it seems like the official ratings should be the most permissive. That's the only way to make the most people happy. And people who are PRO-ratings shouldn't have any problem with decentralization. Eliminating centralized ratings would never eliminate ratings, it just means no monopoly on ratings. That way, no one who's anonymous and unaccountable could make capricious decisions about what's commercially feasible, as they do now.

See: all your media content are being censored thanks to groups blasting form letters.

Oh no, I have failed and made an "all your base" reference into a proper sentence. Good thing I'm AC.

Hm... I think that would be a good idea. A better way to rate shows then the Nielson ratings (if they're still using that). That way, good shows won't be smacked.

Of course, this could be open to abuse by a certain group.

I was thinking of clothed sex, not nudity. Though ironically enough, the Parents Television Council (i.e. the Helen Lovejoy Social Club) does all the hard work for you and puts together a montage of the "worst" clips on TV. Of course, only good Christians concerned about what their children might be exposed to would ever visit that page. Although that contains clips from both broadcast and cable TV, and not just primetime, some of the clips are. In particular the sex party from CSI: Miami.

You mean this video found on this page?

They do warn that the video is graphic, but there's no law being broken by having it posted there (except the Slashdot law they broke when they used WMV when Ogg Theora would've been freer (and Ogg Tarkin 313373|3)). Without illustrating examples of what they're railing against, nobody at all would take them seriously.

You mean this video found on this page?

They do warn that the video is graphic, but there's no law being broken by having it posted there (except the Slashdot law they broke when they used WMV when Ogg Theora would've been freer (and Ogg Tarkin 313373|3)). Without illustrating examples of what they're railing against, nobody at all would take them seriously.

These laws are passed for a reason; becuase they reflect community standards.

Who are you to advocate breaking them?

These laws are passed for a reason; becuase they reflect community standards.

Who are you to advocate breaking them?

These laws are passed for a reason; becuase they reflect community standards.

Who are you to advocate breaking them?

Along those lines, check out the "worst of the worst" list from the PTC. (You can download and view 'em for free) http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/clips/main.asp Slate had a recent article about how they have buried this site in thier page and no longer link to it from thier home page.

Sure you do......Parent Television Council/....

hopefully big biz will realize that this is the final straw and tell groups like the Parents Television Council to go fuck themselves (in those words). i can understand to an extent being wary of broadcast television being "indecent", but i think things have gone waaay out of hand. and besides, cable and satellite are private networks.

attempting to limit the content on paid television will hopefully backfire on them. it is parents responsibility to monitor children's exposure to "indecency and immorality". i hate to sound like a broken record, but if you don't like it, turn the channel or turn it off. a tv isn't a replacement for a babysitter.

some parents seem to have this idea in there head that if their kid sees a naked body then that kid will somehow become a perverted child molestor when they grow up. i think these folks are so scared that things like queer eye are going to lead to a nation of well dressed lisping eccentrics that want to redress their children and make them join some sort of godless cult...

the reality is that these same people are the ones that are so sexually repressed that they spout in public about how bad pornography and idecency is and yet they are some of the major customers of the stuff. it has always been a wink and a nod between congress, the lobbies that are pushing for decency limits and the lobbies that have a vested interest in the proliferation of adult entertainment from sex and the city on hbo to hardcore porn. when it comes down to it, the entertainment industry and hotels are NOT going to want to lose that revenue. this isn't about being politically correct or indecent, it is about making profits and taking care of shareholders. i think this is likely to be the last nail in this issues coffin...

in other, unrelated news:

Convicted Movie Pirate Found Dead

Russell Sprague, the Chicago man who pleaded guilty to charges of receiving Academy Award screeners from Academy member Carmine Caridi and posting them on the Internet, was found dead in his jail cell Monday, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Sprague had been awaiting sentencing. A spokesman for the Marshals office said that, while an investigation was being conducted, all indications pointed to "a normal passing."

Much as I loathe some of the stupid things the FCC does, and makes broadcasters do, they're not the ones to blame here.

Congress is pushing the stepped-up enforcement.
Congress is responsible for the raise in fines.

If you've got a problem with this, write your two senators, and representative.

Furthermore, there is one group who are responsible for 99.9% of the FCC indecency complaints. Perhaps there's a problem not with the government, but with some ninnies who have nothing better to do than worry about what people are watching on TV, or listening to on the radio.

(Yes, I am a broadcaster, no I'm not speaking on behalf of my employer, yadda, yadda, yadda).

Um, CBS broadcast Janet's "wardrobe malfunction." Clear Channel decided to quit airing Howard Stern in many areas. And it's not necessarily American parents who are doing the writing, it's right-wing organizations who take credit for most of the organizing.

Howard is (and I am) still waiting for the FCC to treat Oprah Winfrey the same way his show has been treated by Michael Powell (the chairman of the FCC). I regularly do not tune in Mr. Stern's broadcasts but I know that many do and I believe the increased attempts at "regulation" (read doling out fines) have nothing to do with decency on the airwaves -- something the FCC got out of the business of being concerned with during the Reagan Administration.

After all, according to Republican rhetoric, the market ought to decide what should be aired. It was the Reagan FCC that decided that market pressures should decide what the vertical and horizontal blanking intervals should be like (if you do not work in television, you probably don't know what these are for -- but you are the market making these decisions).

I had thought that the FTC ought to regulate spammers.

the PTC can't cope with reality and want to hide it from there children which is a dangerous thing as they themselves won't be able to cope. PTC pareents are raising there children to be helpless.