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Michael Powell to Leave FCC
Anonymous Slashdotter writes "Michael Powell, chairman of the FCC, will be stepping down from his post soon. 'Powell, who maintained a light regulatory hand as the nation's chief media watchdog but collected some of the largest indecency fines against U.S. broadcasters, planned to issue a statement Friday but was not expected to hold a formal news conference, these officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.'"
Strategically eliminating the chance for a wardrobe malfunction?
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
of course, his replacement might be even worse ..
Howard Stern holds considered 'Happiest Man Alive'
I would have gotten FP, but consolidation has forced me out of the market!
(-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
Ding Dong! The Witch is dead.
Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead.
Just curious, since assholes aren't allowed to be shown on network tv, when they air the press conference will he be pixelated or completely covered with a black dot?
I can only imagine that he will be replaced with someone just as conservative/religious/etc.
... shan't miss him.
Check out his on-air confrontation with Howard Stern from a couple of months ago... riveting stuff.
I'm not wrong. You haven't thought about it hard enough.
Michael Powels vision judging by his actions would be a few large fat companies showing the same bland stuff on every channel.
It has been statistically shown that helmets increase the risk of head injury.
That his replacement will be even worse.
Don't celebrate just yet.
Powell, who is a decent and devout Christian, probably objected heavily when both Jeanna and President Bush announced their allegiance to Satan during yesterday's ceremony.
94% of Repubs and 21% of Dems voted to renew the Patriot Act
he's not leaving immediately. he will hang around for a few months until his successor is named
frankly, i think he is full of shit and it's good he is leaving. he never had the experience to be put on the commission in the first place, nevermind being named the commissioner later on. yes, i know clinton (a democrat) put him on the commission on the first place, and i also know that bush (a republican) named him top dog
secondly, i find it highly suspicious that now that his daddy is leaving, junior is leaving too. so michael, maybe you'd like to recant some of the statements you made to stern, when pressed by him, when you were a 'guest' on ronn owens a few months back?
that said, i'm happy to see him leave. i'm sure bush will use this opportunity to install some "all media must love jesus and hate faggots" pentecostal in there and protect "the children" from dangerous influences like barney and spongebob squarepants. but getting rid of powell junior is at least one good thing
vodka, straight up, thank you!
At least, that was the original design. Someone needs to take them to court over the 1st ammendment. If someone's sign language is governed by free speech, then it follows that the broadcasts should also be governed by the same. They both travel over electro magnetic waves, right?
You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button for several seconds or press the Restart button.
A 6.5 ft, long, dark-haired individual http://www.howardstern.com/ was seen doing cartwheels and handstands with bikini-clad models in Time Square around the time of the story.
I wonder if Colin Powell's exodus is not unrelated to this.
There are 2 kinds of people in this world. Those that can keep their train of thought,
I'd call that flamebait except it seems to be true in this case.
Just as an example, the whole ludicrous fuss about Janet Jackson. Fining the TV company big bucks over that was the act of a total moron with absolutely no sense of priorities. I wonder how he behaves at home (assuming he is married).
Mielipiteet omiani - Opinions personal, facts suspect.
his focus on promoting HDTV and digital communcations, deregualtion of the internet,etc. I suppose there is no point in giving him any credit in any of that since he is a republican. Since this is a tech site, check the Cnet article. I think that is more news for nerds.
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
His father, Colin, is also stepping down. I wonder what this means in terms of GOP internal power struggle?
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
you can grab the torrents of the stern show if you still want to listen. i think they're on loki. he spoke about it today
or, hit up marksfriggin.com. his coverage of today's show was up a few hours ago
vodka, straight up, thank you!
A) Rupert Murdoch
B) CEO of Clear Channel
C) Some random hispanic guy who thinks torture is A-OK
The possiblities are endless!
Well, from what I hear that guy can be a real (censored).
Electrons are free; it is moving them that becomes expensive.
What the fuck is an "F-Bomb"?????
There is no "criminal" here. Showing a middle aged saggy boob isn't criminal. Somebody saying "fuck" isn't criminal.
[as an aside, I'll tell you what's criminal... spending billions of dollars a week in Iraq for no reason, and then running a budget deficit that is destroying our economy. . That's criminal, but that requires thought to actually figure out]
Michael Powell was and is wrong because he tried to use his own personal standards when it came to fines. He was and is a believer in the market...except when it came to "decency".
Meanwhile, he pioneered some of the biggest corporate givaways of spectrum... Ask Nextel who got billions of dollars in free space.
Good riddence to possibly the worst thing to happen to free speech in quite a while. Michael Powell proved himself over and over again to be incompetent. He proved over and over again that he got his job because of his daddy.
If there is a god and karma, he'll get sick before he gets to spend a penny of the money he hopes to get in private industry. He's exactly what's wrong with government these days.
Boff?
I think you all are too harsh on my man Mikey P.
He heads an organization that is ostensibly about regulating new technologies, but employs almost 10 times as many lawyers as engineers, and the average age of the engineers is quite high (in the 40s, if memory serves). He has done a surprisingly good job of staying moderate in terms of amount of regulation. He generally knows when to stay out of the fray, and has been quick to officially adopt standards that have been cemented internationally.
He really has an impossible job, and I think he has been doing as well as anyone could have expected.
So many others!....
5 /2 10105devilhand.htm
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january200
First... Stern's going to Sirius... that'd be the correct spelling.
Second, the Commission is limited in who it can fine for what reasons. Since Stern is not a licensee, is not deliberately or inadvertantly interfering with other communications and isn't operating radio transmitting equipment without a license, the FCC can't fine him. They can only fine the "person" responsible for the broadcast - the station owner, who *is* a licensee, and as a condition of licensing, agreed to follow FCC rules.
Remember, Infinity chose to employ Stern and broadcast his program. Clear Channel chose to carry his show. Other groups/stations chose to carry his show.
Similarly, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake are not Commission licensees, were not operating any type of transmitting equipment and weren't interfering with anything. So neither could be fined by the FCC.
The licensee is the one with the burden of preventing indecent material from reaching the air, not the performers.
Now, I don't personally agree with fining them. My own view is that there are two buttons on a radio or television -- one changes the channel, the other one turns it off. Use them, monitor what your children listen to/watch and don't expect the government to babysit for you.
Hello,
Howard Stern actually called into an interview Michael Powell was doing with KGO radio in San Francisco last October. Interesting enough, one of Howard Stern's main complaints was the FCC was preventing Viacom from buying stations.
More information (MP3, transcript) can be found at Boing Boing.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
Dexter is a good dog.
Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Here's the new FCC slogan
I don't know whether it's too late to un-do all the damage he has done to Amateur Radio by coating BPL with teflon and ramming it through - but hopefully common sense will prevail and BPL will be shelved...
Please.. that is so 1930's. These days evil is characterized by , Voldemort and anything RIAA/MPAA are up to.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Ceci n'est pas une signature.
For reading it at your leisure, without coworkers listening in:2 6.html#008280
http://www.buzzmachine.com/archives/2004_10_
It was all downhill starting with "Automatic for the People"
As soon as the limelight moves on, he'll take a job with ClearChannel.
--
make install -not war
Maybe it's just me, but these two statements seem to be more than a little incompatible with one another.
If you never make mistakes, it's probably because you're not doing anything.
yeash, 7 years or so back, it was quite different. I wonder if someone should start an apolitical tech only site like slashdot..
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
Powell, who maintained a light regulatory hand as the nation's chief media watchdog but collected some of the largest indecency fines against U.S. broadcasters
He didn't do much regulating, but he also did a lot of regulating. If that's not doublethink, i don't know what is.
Th
Close -- but Nixon gave them the power over content.
This
Huh? "Informative" my ass.
why? forty-two.
Michael Powell steps down...
to be replaced by John Ashcroft.
"Let the eagle soar...."
Remain calm! All is well!
Now that he has all that fine money in his pocket, he can retire early:-)
Last year, Powell repeatedly shielded VoIP services from intrusive government regulation and taxation. The FCC voted in February that Internet-only VoIP services were not subject to FCC oversight and expanded that view in November to protect VoIP from state regulators. ...
"He let us go out and build this new thing without knowing all the issues beforehand," said Jeff Citron, chief executive of Vonage, the largest U.S. provider of Internet telephone services. "He helped the telephone industry transition from the old to the new world."
Cellphone number portability, Do Not Call list, he's pushed hard to free up more spectrum for WiFi.
But he's republican so let's focus on the stuff we don't like.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
along with me that he could very well be planning to run for Public Office?
In a value-charged society as it is right now, he could swing enough evangelical votes to get on the ballot..
What I want to see from the ideal FCC Chairman is the balls to slash ownership percentage of the Big Media and allow more independent voices be heard.
Rapid Nirvana
I hope people understand how funny that actually was. Nice work.
I wouldn't be surprised if Bush is going to appoint John Ashcroft...
"Let the eagles fly...."
jeez, that'd be truly awful..
They have been taken to court over the First Amendment, and the Supreme Court has ruled that it is within the public interest to have the FCC place reasonable restrictions on content aired within certain times over public airwaves. Moreover, even outside of those times, it is legal to limit broadcast material over public airwaves that is patently offensive. Transmissions over more limited media (cable and satellite) do not fall within the domain of the FCC, as has been determined by the courts on occasion, and which I believe even Michael Powell has stated in declining to get involved in certain satellite and cable broadcast issues (don't recall them specifically offhand).
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
I call bullshit.
The same way that sodomy laws, the war on drugs, and all the other conservative morality laws are "less government."
The chocolate ration has been increased to 20 grams.
Personally I'd like to see more regulations of public airwaves. These are for public interests, not commercial interests. Government should setup better standards for advertising on content designed for children. I can't believe how much crap they try to peddle to kids over public airwaves. There also should be better standards on how many commericals a tv can show. Its seems to me there's like 2 minutes of commercials for 5 minutes of content. And its increasing every year.
Have you ever been to a turkish prison?
I agree completely. I don't think Powell did anything of benefit for the country during his tenure. He made a bunch of crazy christians happy I suppose. But I think he pissed off more people than he pleased with the censorship crusade.
Did anyone read about Fox pixelating a cartoon butt that they aired 5 years ago, so as not to get FCC complaints?
what? what I thought we were in the trust tree in the nest, were we not?
If you run the FCC and you get a cartoon to censor itself spontaneously, on FOX of all places, that's how you know you've dealt some serious spankage.
Its time to get some young blood in there!
http://www.DaveNet.biz/
Howard Stern rules!
Michael Powell Cheats on His Taxes!!!
or dont be some damn prudeish about what your kids watch.
"ohhh noooo i a tiny bit of violence swearingand nudity will destroy their hopes and dreams"
is idiotic
enough said
. My own view is that there are two buttons on a radio or television -- one changes the channel, the other one turns it off. Use them, monitor what your children listen to/watch and don't expect the government to babysit for you.
The Jackson incident is a glaring example of why that doesn't work, when normally I'd agree.
If I don't want my kids listening to or watching Stern, it's easy enough to lock them out of the E! channel when his show comes on.
But, no one expected to see that kind of shit during the Superbowl half-time show. The problem is the Superbowl was rated for all ages.
It pissed a lot of people off, and don't go off on some "well in Europe its ok.." rant. To many, it would be like going to McDonalds, and having them serve your kids vodka in their Happy Meals. People also knew it wasn't an accident, it was dead obvious that it wasn't. It was some washed up old skank trying to be shocking and prop up her failing career.
I'm all for leaving it up to the people, and a ratings system. If a show says they're rated for all ages, and then start cussing and showing nudity, they should be fined because IMO that's fraud.
The TV industry has been hammering the point that we pay by watching commercials lately. Fine, I accept that. Then if you advertise your program as rated all ages, and I pay for it by watching your commercials, and then you cross the line into adult content, well in the marketplace we call behavior like that a bait and switch.
What they did was wrong, and whether or not you personally were offended isn't the point.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
What the fuck is an "F-Bomb"?????
When someone says Fuck on the air.
Bugs are just features that have been fixed.
You have that backwards.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
I recall, Gene Simmons used that gesture to only give a wink to fellow Spiderman fans.
The 'devil horns' isn't Satan worship, but I doubt the militant religious right doesn't read that many comic books.
Useless and impotent since its inception it is time to abolish the FCC.
There is one thing and one thing only that the FCC is useful for. You have to have some sort of regulation, otherwise everyone would be trying to broadcast on the same frequency.
Of coarse the FCC as we know it is preoccupied with enforcing "decency" and deregulation/privatization (read: handing over the airwaves to large corporations).
So yeah, fuck him.
There's no need to get rid of the FCC altogether...just to bitchslap it back into only doing what it was created for, which is the allocation and licensing of EM frequencies. Nothing more, nothing less. The First Amendment and the market will take care of the rest.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
"Howard came back from break and got Mike Walker on the line so they could play the Gossip Game with him. Howard told Mike that something just came over the wire saying that Michael Powell is probably going to resign today. Howard said that's not a surprise because now that he's leaving radio, he's got nothing else to do. Gary told Howard that they're getting a ton of requests from the press for Howard to give some quotes. Howard said that this is a great thing because the guy didn't deserve the job in the first place. He believes that Powell got the job because of who his father was. Howard gave the history of Colin Powell and how Michael Powell was given the job to pay back Colin Powell. Howard said that Powell didn't deserve the position and eventually started fining Howard and other broadcasters to look good to the religious right. Howard went off on Powell for a couple of minutes and complained about the things he did while he was in that position. He claims that Powell and the FCC blackmailed companies by threatening to hold up their licenses. Howard said ''Thank God he's gone... but God help us with what's next.''"
From Mark's Friggin Website
--
RumorsDaily
The liberal wing, as well, supports the "war on drugs". Bill Clinton, a major liberal leader, signed the anti-gay "defense of marriage act".
I heard it this morning, and wrote about it here
I agree, but in what was ostensibly a family show (Superbowl), you're watching with the expectation of no boobs. There is no chance to switch the channel. If that game had been aired on the Playboy channel, I'd agree with your sentiment about babysitting and channel switching.
Wow.
That boom you heard was that joke doing Mach 2 over your head.
Don't forget the bill that is sitting on presiden't desk. The one that will allow the FCC to fine 'individual radio personalities'. I'm all for moderate regulation of our airways, but going after the actors/DJ's is a dangerous precedent.
I am the lord of the pun. Dance Knave!
The way the FCC penalty system is structured, a station cannot renew or transfer licenses while the matter is open. For a large media company who relies on being able to buy and sell stations, this is a strong incentive to pay the fine and not fight it.
Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
I think he should go back to working with "Monty Python."
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I considered it could be a joke, but you never know.
Bugs are just features that have been fixed.
Hence the new reliance on delay systems. It gives the broadcaster a chance to review what's going to air before it does, and if something inappropriate comes along, they can (and should) hit the dump button.
I'm not suggesting that people are too prudish, and I'm not arguing that "anything goes" should be the policy, either.
I agree with the idea that if a show is advertised as for all ages, that's what it should be. But I also understand that things sometimes happen in live events that the broadcaster cannot predict.
If I were king, the solution would have been to propose fining CBS affiliates - all of them - unless they proved that they had installed delay systems and trained operators to use them, within 30 days of the order. So as to help prevent a similar situation in the future.
In other words, people make mistakes, and offering a chance to fix the problem is better policy than simply punishing for the sake of punishment.
...the man who appointed that which *isn't*.
Why can't all fpga/microcontroller manufacturers just release free optimizing compilers???
Now, can we all imagine Howard Stern jumping through flaming hoops with joy?
But seriously, I don't think that this is exactly whay I would call good news. Powell was certainly an unqualified political appointee who did a fairly lousy job at effectively regulating the free speech issues of the FCC.
But stop and think- who the hell is going to get appointed to the position? In a society that seems to be waging cultural warfare on itself, the next chairman may be effective and completely opposed to intellectual freedom.
If Janet Jackson's boob (and I've seen a fair number and her's was aok) was a problem for the FCC under Powell, imagine if John Ashcroft (thank God this will not happen) ever got appointed. Do you think Bush will appoint a religious radical to the post?
I shiver in fear.
befuddled (noun) 1. Unable to create a pithy sig
Abolish the FCC
Circumcision is child abuse.
SO then NBC does the same thing a few months later. Then Fox, then ABC. "Oh well...no problem. NOW we have installed the delay system. (After getting all that extra publicity)" The fine is also to prevent others from going down that same road.
Ronnie James Dio is credited with inventing the devil horns, and according to this (from Kerrang! mag) he takes it pretty seriously.
Ronnie James Dio, the man widely credited for pioneering the "devil's horns" hand sign, recently spoke to Kerrang! about the "widespread abuse of his creation" amongst pop folk and people who flash the sign without knowing the meaning behind it.
"It's all right as long as it's accepted for what it was," Dio told the magazine. "It was a more serious thing at the time, when I was with [BLACK] SABBATH. That was a band that was very dark, and that's what I wanted it to be. It was symbol of the darkness of that band, and not something to be passed on to BRITNEY SPEARS! An invention is an invention, I guess. It's become so damn polluted now. The people who are doing it don't know what it means and they have no idea that they shouldn't be doing it.
"It's a trend," Dio addded. "It's a popular trend and so it will probably become like the hula hoop. During a show, I sometimes think 'Maybe I won't do that tonight', because it's become so damn ludicrous now. Everyone's doing it and it has no meaning anymore. Now I wait until two or three songs into the show, and until there's a stop in the music and I'm doing something on my own, and then the response is incredible because people are wanting that from me. It's like OZZY and the peace sign, you know? So I never
find myself not doing it, but I'm definitely doing it less and less these days.
"The point is that you can't just flash it. You have to a face that goes with it. There has to be some emotion behind it. It can't just be the raising of the arm, trying to get your fingers in the right position. And you'll notice that a lot of people are using the thumb now, too. When the thumb comes out it means 'I love you' either in Hawaiian or in sign language - I'm not sure which! So that's proof, once again, that these celebrities don't really have a clue. As stupid as this might sound, I never once did that on stage unless it was to punctuate something that was a little more dark. So when I did it, it was never about starting a trend. It's a natural thing for me to do. It's important to know that it's not something I did frivolously it was just a spontaneous response to something that I sang. A lot of times, bending of the knees always puts it in a slightly different perspective. It puts you in the Sumo position. Now you're ready to charge!"
Bush, however, was saluting the Texas Longhorns, not "shouting out to the devil". I wish he was, that would be a refreshing break from Christian dogma.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
They are the ones who decide how many TV/radio stations can be owned by a single company.
:-)
Powell's replacement could, for all we know, be a friend of Rupert Murdoch. How hard would that scenario be to imagine?
I hear Bill O'Reilly is looking for work..
Hardly anyone saw it during the superbowl -- her breast was flashed for a couple of seconds.
Most children spend their first months or years sucking on their mother's breast. Its no big deal anyway.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
"That was a band that was very dark, and that's what I wanted it to be. It was symbol of the darkness of that band, and not something to be passed on to BRITNEY SPEARS! An invention is an invention, I guess. It's become so damn polluted now. The people who are doing it don't know what it means and they have no idea that they shouldn't be doing it."
He should have patented it!
Ok so which is worse nakid breast or some guy's head being chopped in. Personally I would rather my daughter see the breast than the chopped in head. The FCC seems perfectly happy with kids watching extreme violence but get's all disgruntled over band language (so what) or a nakid body part. Makes me wonder. Alex
"The Brady Bunch is back...working homicide"
The fact is that CBS did not intend to violate broadcast decency standards. It was the responsibility of Justin, Janet, and the costumer to make sure that their performance lived up to the standards, because that was what they were hired to do as *professional* performers. Why fine CBS, who had no part in it beyond hiring MTV to put on a half-time show? They had no say in the content of the show. You might as well fine the cameraman who was on the air at the time.
Make me a friend and I'll mod you up
Sorta like when Darth Ashcroft left. You never know who'll get appointed Chancellor next. . .
You are not the customer.
On commercials vs. content. In the 80s, one hour shows were 47/48 minutes of show, the rest commercials. By the late 90s they were 42 minutes of show, the rest commercials. Can't back it up with a link right now, unfortunately.
As for commercials and kids, look at the definition of a Commercial vs. a Sponsor or Interstitial (i think thats how its spelled). Or in short compare PBS sponsoships/interstitals to commercials.
Fly me to the moon Let me sing among those stars Let me see what spring is like On jupiter and mars
The problem arises when the FCC also gets to decide what is indecent.
That is not the place of a virtually unregulated department of the government.
It is amazing how violence never made into your list of things to protect ourselves from.
You do not pay by watching commercials. Commercial content funds what is on our public airwaves - except for public TV.
You can have your voice heard by refusing to purchase products from the vendors advertise. This is what a free market is.
There was no law broken, and nothing overtly adult was presented. If you consider flesh to be evil, then you do. But not everyone else does. This is especially interesting considering the violence that is involved in the game. OK for you to see someone get hauled off in a stretcher, I guess.
Also, I am amazed that when you saw that it was sponsered by MTV that you allowed your children to watch it. Anyone who has watched MTV in the last 10 years knows how far the performers push the limits, and MTV has been in the past mentioned as an evil channel by religious conservatives such as yourself.
What was done was not a bait and switch. A bait and switch is advertising a product for a low price, but not having any in the store to sell - the bait. When a customer comes in, you 'switch' what they want.
To many, it would be like going to McDonalds, and having them serve your kids vodka in their Happy Meals.
It is more like breast-feeding kids with the Happy Meals. How horrible is that?
Most reasonable people would not consider the Superbowl a family show. Hypocrites would, but I wouldn't consider them reasonable.
A family show...with 15 commercials for Viagra and Levitra?
Sorry they can't have it both ways.
People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people
I am very fearful of the next head of the FCC. We could end up with someone like James Dobson who recently issued a warning about SpongeBob. http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/20/sponge.bo b.reut/index.html I just hope the next head puts a stop to those Cialis and Viagra commercials. I am very tired of seeing those commercials pop up on the TV during sporting events. Cialis + Wardrobe Malfunction = a big problem. Without the ED pills, the breast would have been ignored.
He was a not competent to do this job. Let's hope that Bush puts in someone better.... oh wait... that won't happen. Good-bye free speech. Good bye Amateur radio
Here's the thing - I bet your kids (if indeed your kids were watching) didn't even notice her boob.
There just wasn't anything to see. For less than a second part of her breast was exposed. Even if you look at it in slow motion (which, I'll admit, I have), you get just the merest glimpse of her nipple.
The real problem wasn't the boob flashing, it was the insistence of people in the media that it was something worth talking about. It wasn't, and it still isn't.
You say what they did was wrong - in your opinion that's true, and I'm not going to try to change that. But in the scheme of the things TV does wrong, it was trivial.
Does it deserve a fine? Sure, as you said, flashing a boob does not fit into the rating scheme. But the fine should have been a tiny little one, not half a million. It was half a million because Powell (see, I can be on topic!) is a judgemental prude, not because it was in the best interests of our country.
I'm not saying you shouldn't be offended. Go ahead and be offended. Just take a breath and realize that a sub-second flash of a boobie isn't a big deal. Save your energy for something important. You know, like being mad at Randy Moss for pretending to moon a bunch of football fans. Oh wait, that wasn't big deal either.
Wow. You shiver in fear over what thee next FCC chairdroid might think about boobies in the Superbowl. I'll be sure to alert all the people in the Sudan, where the cultural war there results in human beings sold into slavery. Jesus Tap Dancing Christ, are we a pack of soft pussies in this country.
And that's the heart of the problem. Too many of you people exist in the demon haunted wolrd described by Sagan for religous types, except you construct human demons.
I had zero use for Powell or Ashcroft, but, curiously, the skies failed to split asunder and horns of the Apocalypse failed to sound under their reigns. Fancy that.
You all need to calm down and cut the histrionics. It does not gain converts. I feel your pain, but you only drive others away with the heated and vulgar rhetoric that shows up here and elsewhere. Polls seem to show that Farenheit911 probabaly was a net plus for Bush. I'd wager money that Penn & Teller's "Bullshit!" on Showtime has not turned very many people away from paranormal flim-flam relative to those who were pushed more deeply into it.
Culture war happens everywhere, and has been happening as long as we higher primates have been coherent enough to have culture. The EU loudly makes fun of ours in a desperate attempt to ignore their own problems, some of which run deeper into the past than the USA has existed. China slaghters her own citizens in her periodic bouts of cultural unrest. And what do you think Islamofacism has doing these past 14 centuries?
Culture war? Buddy, on that front, we in the USA are rank amateurs in a world of heavily seasoned professionals where cultural hatreds seem to have become a genetic memory.
--- Ban humanity.
It's like an H-Bomb, but no one gets killed and all the Christians get angry.
Here's the Sphincterine Ass-timonial by Mike Powell:
As chairman of the FCC I spend 90 % of my day kissing the President's ass. With the election 6 months away and a hectic summer campaign schedule there isn't always time for good hygiene. But I put something special in his Christmas stocking this year and now W's "A" smells A.O.K.
Thanks Sphincterine!!!
As opposed to all of the smart, safe things that have been going across the president's desk...
You're right, whether or not I or anyone else was offended isn't the point. The point is whether or not the Consitution give the federal government the power to regulate television content, when said content isn't liableous or slanderous. It doesn't, and there is a part of the Constitution that could be taken to forbid such regulation.
"Do I dare disturb the universe?"
Stern's official quote this morning on this issue was "I want to sleep with Kelly Ripa".
reported on the Amateur Radio Newsline
That is all.
The Farewell Tour II
The chocolate ration has been increased to 20 grams.
Rocks. I have to start signing my email with that whenever I see bullshit doublespeak. Thanks!
Most children spend their first months or years or decades sucking on their mother's breast.
;-)
You're sick.
What kind of sick parents do you have? Everyone knows that a good consumer feeds their babies commercial brand formula food.
The way the FCC penalty system is structured, a station cannot renew or transfer licenses while the matter is open. For a large media company who relies on being able to buy and sell stations, this is a strong incentive to pay the fine and not fight it.
Then the fines aren't large enough. The fines should be such that you don't break the rules in the first place. If people break the rules and pay the fines because the rules are unreasonable and the fines aren't too harsh, then the government is just stealing money.
Kind of like speeding tickets... If the limits were strictly enforced - like having a cop every mile on the highway recording license plates of anyone doing 1 mile over the limit - then people would demand that their government bring the limits in tune with reality. But instead, not enough people get pulled over to create a revolution, and not harsh enough of a penalty is applied to those who do get pulled over to make it worth fighting. So speeding tickets just become a reliable source of revenue loosely based in public safety.
$8.95/mo web hosting
Actually, NBC instituted a delay on live events after Dale Earnhardt, Jr, said the S word live.
Fox and ABC have implemented delay as well.
stratjakt: "But, no one expected to see that kind of shit during the Superbowl half-time show."
Right, they just expect to see half naked cheerleaders and scantily-clad pop stars singing sexually suggestive lyrics. But Janet had to ruin that wholesome endeavor by, gasp, flashing her breast.
The Do Not Call List was a creation of the Federal Trade Commission, or the FTC, not the FCC.
Personally, I was very surprised that Powell came down so hard on speech issues. Years ago, I heard him give a talk where he basically said that he didn't think speech regulation in broadcast media was justified any longer. I thought I would like him as a First Amendment friendly FCC Chair (although I expected to disagree on other matters). Surprise!
Liza
My employer does not know I'm writing this.
These opinions are my own. My employer is not aware of them, does not endorse them, and is not responsible for them.
The broadcast frequencies are owned by the "public". As such, the government has seen fit to regulate there content, for exactly the same reason the government regulates commercial waterways and national parks. It's also why there will forever be a controversy over this.
Personally I don't think the airwaves should be owned by the government, even under the euphemistic title of "public". But as long as they are, the government get's to make the rules about them. As a democratic republic, we at least get some input into it.
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
qoute
[What they did was wrong, and whether or not you personally were offended isn't the point.]
Whether or you were offended is the point. What is right or wrong is a personal opinion. So if you took offence to it it was wrong...to YOU. I don't want the government deciding what is right or wrong for me, but they do all the time. Oh you can listen to this but not that. Oh you can take these drugs...but not those. And by drugs I mean anything that alter you state of being. Such as caffiene, beer, nicotine, marjiuana, ect. Never except constained thoughts and limited views set in place by others.
best post ever.
Surely the sky will fall, and the Republic with it!
To many, it would be like going to McDonalds, and having them serve your kids vodka in their Happy Meals.
Once again, someone arguing that breasts are actually dangerous. Good thing we can only rely on the government protecting us from them. Give me a break.
If I only had some mod points, you'd get em.
You mean something out of the ordinary happened on live television? The horror. Isn't that why live television is so great?
~S
Powell was a idiot (in relation to his position), and clearly didn't understand how to regulate a shared public medium to achieve public benefit.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
President Bush can't fire Powell Jr., FCC commissioners are appointed for five-year terms. So, either 1) he was offered a high-paying revolving-door gig by one of the corporations he served as FCC commissioner; or 2) somebody has something on Powell (e.g. some quid pro quo received by Powell in exchange for all his support of anti-consumer, pro-media-monopoly policies). Rule out #1, because such a job would still be waiting for him at the conclusion of his term.
Maybe her brother should have had pictures of boobies on his Dangerous album and then he would have appeared really really dangerous.
OR maybe, just maybe, Fox is just smarter than you....
Since Family Guy is going to start running long anticipated new episodes of a good show that really didn't grab an audience the first time around, they ran an old episode with a bare butt in it so they could pixelate the cartoon butt to create a little stir - the reprecussions of the Janet Jackson thing is still daily newspaper fodder. That hopefully (and did) grabbed a few headlines in the media like "Family Guy Pixelates Butt Due to FCC Concerns". What do you think the chances of Family Guy being mentioned around the water cooler had Fox not pixelated the character's ass? It created more awareness of the show and hopefully will score a bigger share of the Nielsen giving the show a running start on it's second lease on life. Nothing gets people to watch tv more than sex and controversy. But then again if you want to turn off your brain and just repeat when you read on Fark, then by all means strap on your tinfoil hat and full speed ahead!
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur
Surely there is a scientific way to settle the issue of whether children are harmed by this sort of thing. Perhaps we can start with two large groups of randomly selected children, and let them watch an appropriately 'G'-rated television show, featuring cute, cuddly animals engaged in completely innocent behavior. The control group would watch the show unmodified, but the other group would see a version in which a 500 millisecond flash of a female nipple was inserted. These children could then be monitored for the next 20 years or so, with respect to things like grades and attendance in school, criminal behavior, drug use, career success, suicide, etc.
I have no doubt about what the result would be. Contrary to what the liberals seem to believe, we are likely to find that the nippled children have been harmed irreparably, so much so perhaps that the ethics of the study itself will be called into question. Specifically, I would expect a high incidence of criminal sexual behavior, and perhaps even of willingness to engage in sexual activity prior to (or outside of) Holy Matrimony.
At least then we will be able to base our enforcement actions on a sound scientific footing.
'We shouldn't be going to war' Powell > 'We've never made a mistake' Rice
'You have no rights' Ashcroft > 'You have no rights and it's ok for us to torture you' Gonzalez
The new guy will probably be some hypocrit like Rupert Murdoch
Proud of your planet -
Oh Mommy!
Proud of your Son!
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
The obvious question is, if this is the way things are going, how can this fit in with freedom of speech? To me this sounds like speech being less free for those who have gained a large audience and they are to be penalised for not conforming to what a governing body considers acceptable. If that's not censorship, I don't know what is.
Where's the Kaboom?
There's supposed to be an Earth-shattering Kaboom.
What will be Powell's new position at Clear Channel?
FUCK YES!!!
Having viagra and levitra commericials isnt having it both ways. They in of themselves are not obscene. You dont see penises or diagrams thereof in the commericials, and most people under age wouldnt even pay attention to the commercials.
Viral software licensing is not freedom, it is in fact GNU/Socialism.
So a person driving a vehicle without a license is imune from getting any traffic tickets? The person that broke the law is the one that should be fined.
Lots of misspellings yes, confused rhetoric yes, even some outright dumb statements yes, and a first post... but Troll? I don't see it.
I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
I can't believe I'm saying this about a FCC employee, but I LOVED him on The ScreenSavers.
To bad I'd rather watch him breath then watch the new ScreenSavers- Thanks G4!!
Actually, I think that might be okay in Europe.
Transistors and Beer!!
Yeah, like I'm going to watch a Janet Jackson half time show instead of getting more beer.
It's just a trick to get me to watch Hillary Duff next time!
f u cn rd ths u cn gt a gd jb n cmptr prgmng
Mitchel Powell released a public statement today, announcing his retirement. It read simply, "Fuck all y'all. Love, Mitch."
UTF-8: There and Back Again
The whole "hand in horns" sign ISN'T a rock-and-roll thing, ISN'T about Satanism (although Xtian extremists simply love to blame everything on so-called "Satanic Forces", and quasi/pseudo-satanic (as opposed to the Church of Satan folks) types love to pillage anything and everything that's remotely metaphysical or occult-related as "their own" to make it "evil"-er. Even the cops tend to regurgitate the same stupidities spouted forth by the masss media.
The Mano Cornuta is an ancient occultic symbol that's commonly (although incorrectly) attributed to Italians. It's used to ward off "The Evil Eye", not to invoke 'Ol Split-Hoof. The "Why" and "How" of heavy-metal artist's starting to use an ancient occultic symbol should be self-evident as the industry (still) clings to half-truths and misconceptions of "evil-ness" as part of it's "charm" and "allure" to impressionable minds.
This comment is very interesting if not insightful
"But, no one expected to see that kind of shit during the Superbowl half-time show. The problem is the Superbowl was rated for all ages."
Well then, the show was rated incorrectly. That would be a good reason to impose a fine.
But no one expected it? Yes and no. I mean, come on, what is the point of cheerleaders in skimpy outfits if not for T and A. I wouldn't say the halftime show was G rated anyway (without the "malfunction").
Rupert frickin' Murdock owns a major piece of satellite direct broadcast, which as a whole is almost a monopoly. Most of the internet content that most people see and hear is owned or controlled by the same faces that own/control existing modes of info transmission.TCP transmission has become very concentrated, as has cellular infrastructure.
So, where's all this competition Mr. Powell talked about? It's nonexistant. It's looking like the stewards of US industry didn't mind the previous Soviet command economy per se, just that it wasn't them in command.
Luke, help me take this mask off
People here think the RIAA sniffing around for debatable file sharing is facism. No, having your family raped and murdered by state thugs before your eyes simply because you exist is facism, and happens every single day in this world.
--- Ban humanity.
Americans are too stupid to see how good we have it. We have concerns about the welfare of our nation but still, we have it better than China, Russia, Sudan, and Iraq. Americans aren't pussies just ignorant.
I blame the Evangicals for crying persecution whenever someone disagrees with them or tells them they can't force their religion onto others. Grow up and live at church.
You heard me, bitches.
--- Ban humanity.
.. and let us have boobies on TV, like quite a bit of the rest of the free world does.
Shut the fuck up, religious right. If you don't like what's on TV, quit watching it. *sigh*
And the Internet. Just think, the Internet could be as jacked up as the Telcos.
I have always wondered if Affirmative Action should be a one time thing. IE: If you are considered some kind of a special category and you always get special treatment, then you block others in your special group from getting special treatment. If your dad is head of the military, and then Secretary of State, and you are a millionaire because you are a currupt pol, do your children still get to go to the head of the line based upon the falacy that somehow melitonin content is a relevant metric as to station in life?
Obviously I am inviting a flame war here. Why, because I feel that we have a situation where Affirmative Action has failed us. Instead of getting well-deserving kids from poverty getting special treatment, we have rich Rebubbican a-holes getting all the special treatment.
If you get considered for special treatment more than once, then you take away from the rest.
I think I will post this one Anon
And we are a nation of pussies. This is the heart of the Info Age. JoeBob in his trailer gets live images from around the world every day. People know what it's like out there. They know we have it better than, say, 95%.
And although I have no use for Republicans, I get the huffiest reactions when I disagree with Democrats. Oh, my great fluffy, bouncing baby Jehovah, go to a Democrat dominated town hall type discussion and suggest any sort of private sector solution to anything and they're ready to drag out the stake, gasoline and matches.
--- Ban humanity.
Then perhaps you should try playing 20 questions with a 5 year old about what exactly Viagra is for.
;-) but getting upset over Janet's breast popping out, when there's just as many sexual overtones in the rest of the show is what I mean by having it both ways.
Or why the women on the sidelines in skimpy outfits are dry humping and shaking their breasts all over for the camera.
I'm not a prude and I actually don't mind such things
People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people
The evil you know is always better than the evil you don't know.
Sad thing is that [Chairman Powell] is likely to be replaced by an even bigger asshole just like what happened to his father.
Two words: Chairman Goatse.
Free bandwidth to broadcasters in the name of HDTV is one of the largest (in terms of money) scandals that has gone unreported.
karma : former act as leading to inevitable results
Should have replied one level higher ...
karma : former act as leading to inevitable results
Stern wasn't complaining that Viacom was being prevented from buying stations, he merely noted it. Stern doesn't care if Viacom is having trouble. I don't think he even likes Viacom.
Moreover, even outside of those times, it is legal to limit broadcast material over public airwaves that is patently offensive.
You mean like commercials for Amazon.com that mention one-click shopping, on which Amazon holds a patent that many Slashdot users consider offensive?
Huh huh. Heh heh. Huh huh. That's like, called a DP or a chocolate sandwich or something. Heh heh.
I'm only slashdot's second biggest Monkey spanker
If you don't want to replace your TV buy a D/A converter box.
How do you know that these ATSC receivers will fall in price significantly before the January 2007 deadline?
<lilJon> YEAHHHHHH!!!!! </lilJon>
(As someone who still wonders why guns and wanton violence are allowed on primetime but mere boobs and words are censored, I couldn't wait to say that.)
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
I guess he's not so tough without his daddy to protect him.
Just in case anyone thought this was not a good thing, maybe this picture will put it into better words.
http://www.howardstern.com/04/01/21/ht1s.jpg
Within 3 months Michael Powell will be working as a lobbyist for a large media corportation.
Ideology is for ideots.
(1) Just because it was a rather stupidly naive attempt at censorship that predictably backfired to some degree doesn't mean it wasn't an attempt at censorship. The point about the universality of political intent stands.
(2) When you accuse someone of something, it's customary to provide a source, or at least an example. I mean, I can claim to be the greatest force for censorship in the universe, but without any backup, I'd get laughed off... just like you are at the moment.
...it's really a sad day for America when we require a goddamn ACT OF CONGRESS to make our DVD players work properly. ~
You say that like it's a bad thing... if "progress" is an advancement of anything any politician, of any political party, wants to do, or has ever wanted to do, and lack of progress is blocking that from happening, everyone'd love to see some of that gridlock.
...it's really a sad day for America when we require a goddamn ACT OF CONGRESS to make our DVD players work properly. ~
I was never a fan of Howard Stern, and I don't really care for humor based on the ridicule and humiliation of others. However, when Howard Stern speaks, I feel that what he's saying is what he actually believes, that he has no hidden agenda, and that he's not beholden to anyone but himself. I don't feel that way about Michael Powell.
-G
www.g.pix.com
-G
www.pixelstatic.com
Waaah! Every law in the communications industry doesn't favor my hobbies! How dare he not acknowledge that what I want is necessarily true and correct?!?
By the way, "political" is defined in terms of "the actions of one in government", so "politically motivated fines" tells us exactly nothing new about the nature of said fines.
...it's really a sad day for America when we require a goddamn ACT OF CONGRESS to make our DVD players work properly. ~
Why you specifically target affirmative action. Cronyism and nepotism have pretty much been traditions since the inception of the Democratic Party, and subsequent parties have continued the tradition. The only reason it's more subtle nowadays is because it got Garfield shot.
...it's really a sad day for America when we require a goddamn ACT OF CONGRESS to make our DVD players work properly. ~
Well...maybe he is, a little. But if that's not a +5 insightful, I don't know what is. Nobody said they were mutually exclusive.
Give a man fire, and you warm him for the night. Set a man on fire, and you warm him for the rest of his life.
If the FCC was truly all about supporting large networks, they would allow them to appeal to the ever-increasing moral decadence of our society completely unharrassed.
But that's exactly what the FCC *is* allowing them to do. Showing a nipple in a non-pornographic fashion is not decadence, but dumbing down America *is*.
These fines are actually *worse* than just letting the corporations off the hook, because they are punishing them not for doing anything wrong, but send the message that you better watch what you say. Very chilling.
'Bout time!
When we talk about culture war, we mean squabbling between different cultures. America, you see, actually has people from different countries living here. In fact, we have a lot of them.
Sudan's situation is only a "culture war" in the sense that war is part of their culture. Plus, the solution is to go in, take over, ban weapons for the local populace, and force them at gunpoint to be nice to each other. You'll note that that's not very easily accommodated by American policy, and would also create problems of its own.
Nice troll, though. you manage to make a perfectly reasonable, relatively truthful point, and exaggerate it into something so inflammatory that even people that pretty much agree with the premise will bite. Good job.
...it's really a sad day for America when we require a goddamn ACT OF CONGRESS to make our DVD players work properly. ~
Fsck you very much the FCC
Fsck you very much for fining me...
Eric Idle presents... The FCC Song.
"Here's a little song I wrote the other day while I was out duck hunting with a judge... It's a new song, it's dedicated to the FCC and if they broadcast it, it will cost a quarter of a million dollars."
See it here!
And hear!
Official Monty Python Site
"And fsck you all so very much!"
Hatredman
It's just a trick to get me to watch Hillary Duff next time!
:) Even one would do!
Is she gonna show her tits?
Wait until one of our beloved Democrats gets in. They'll put an end to all this affordable broadband and Vonage bullshit.
Well this Democrat still graciously thanks the Democrats for allowing broadband and voip to exist to begin with.
If the Republicans had had a say, they would have killed sponsorship of the Internet development claiming that the private sector was better suited to perform R&D.
FCC people are afraid of giving someone the plan to make an announcement and not have a press conference -- which is already in the mainstream press -- so much that they feel they need to be anonymous?
Does this show the current state of mind at FCC under Mr. Powell? What's the deal with that? These people work for us, supposedly.
+++OK ATH
Obviously you have a whole different take on history than 99% of the rest of the world. Perhaps your tin hat is a little too tight today.
I here that as part of Bush's war on terror, he is going to name John Ashcroft in a surpise move to take the filth out of tv. Ashcroft is rumored to have said that as his first target he wants to replace force the broadcasters for Desperate Housewives with a show his church proposes brethern have called Catholic Housewives. Even the Simpsosn will have the reportedly clean up their act by chasing Moe out of town an converting the bar into an evangelical church.
organized book burnings in Tennessee. Hard to be more on the side of censorship than that.
This is the guy under whose watch the FCC mandated digital TV; which will cost many Americans who DON'T CARE about increased (signal, not content) quality and think current TV signal quality is good enough hundreds of dollars since it will be ILLEGAL for broadcasters to keep sending out analog signals - which are the only kind of signals current equipment can receive. No upgrade - no more TV for you.
This is the guy under whose watch the FCC mandated the "broadcast flag", which makes it ILLEGAL for a digital tuner to give unencrypted access to a full quality signal if the broadcaster doesn't want it - it is ILLEGAL for a tuner to not restrict your rights.
And under his watch, the FCC fines CBS for Justin Timberlake's action in the Janet Jackson boob fiasco. Wouldn't it be great if you were caught speeding and the fined the people who built the road instead of you? What ever happened to punishing only those responsible? And in any event $550K for a second of boob on TV is extreme. What happened to any sense of proportion?
For a Republican, he sure does want to make a lot of things illegal.
Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!
Her brother likes little boys, not boobs.
I can't believe no one posting seems to be aware that when Powell took office there were 9000 ISP's. Now there are less than 2000. The FCC's policies under Powell have been surrendering the Internet to the Bell companies, lock, stock and DSL. At the rate they are going, in another four years there may be only MSN and AOL. Think about it.
On commercials vs. content. In the 80s, one hour shows were 47/48 minutes of show, the rest commercials. By the late 90s they were 42 minutes of show, the rest commercials. Can't back it up with a link right now, unfortunately.
For examples of 48 minute tv shows, check out early seasons of Star Trek: TNG and Highlander. I believe the standard is now 44 minutes though I wouldn't be suprised if some shows are down to 42.
I may be completely wrong on this, so feel free to correct me, but I believe that Canada still has regulations that require TV stations to limit their commercial time to 12 minutes per hour. But then you do some math and realize that 44 + 12 still leaves 4 minutes of time to fill each hour. If they can't show commercials in those 4 minutes, what do they do?
Apparently ads for TV shows and ads for the station/network don't count towards the quota so the normal 2 minute commercial break expands to 2 minutes plus plenty of "next up on Global News, something bad happened in the world" and "next up on CTV, some cheaply made reality show"
That is why politicial parties don't work.
Oh, don't single out one group. It's pointless. Everyone claims victimhood. The Christians claimed it this last Christmas, but so did the athieists who were somehow oppressed by someone putting a fucking nativity scene in a park. All sides are guilty.
Groups now like to be victims. It's a trend that will last for awhile. Americans are too sensitive to things. We censor our TV and radio, we get upset over ideas, we get upset over religion, and, worst of all, the media makes millions off of it. Time for Americans to grow up and accept that not all people are alike and can never be alike. If you get offended by something, don't deal with it again. I'm offended by Dell offshring jobs so I don't buy Dell. Problem solved. As for religion, to each their own and none any anyone's damn business.