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FCC to Fine Curses More Than Nuke Violations

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the punishment-fits-the-crime dept.

DiZNoG writes "With Congress debating new higher fines for broadcast indecency in the wake of last year's 'wardrobe malfunction' and Howard Stern's antics, Rolling Stone has published an interesting perspective on things. Rolling Stone did a review of fines levied by other federal regulatory bodies, and has found the new indecency fines disproportionately large compared to other fines. According to the article, if the bill passes then 'for the price of Janet Jackson's 'wardrobe malfunction' during the Super Bowl, you could cause the wrongful death of an elderly patient in a nursing home and still have enough money left to create dangerous mishaps at two nuclear reactors.' The article further states the largest fine the Nuclear Regulatory Commission levied last year was $60,000, this new bill would allow broadcast indecency fines up to $500,000. Glad I keep my broadcast cursing to a minimum, now if I could only get a handle on those pesky dangerous nuclear mishaps."

3 of 634 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Thank You Right Wing Loonies by DarkFencer · · Score: 4, Informative
    The chairman of the FCC was appointed by Bill Clinton


    Michael Powell (son of Colin Powell) was appointed as chairman by GW Bush in his first term, though he was made a commisioner of the FCC (but not chariman) by Clinton.
  2. Re:So much for freedom of speech by Handbrewer · · Score: 4, Informative

    Thats civilised in my book. If you have any reason to ban profanity, nudity and other stuff from TV, please paste links to the research reports indicating it harms anyone. Otherwise, f'ck off.

    The legal age of drinking in Denmark is 16, we got less alcoholics than restricted countries such as Sweden and Norway, that has state owned monopolies on alcohol.
    We got less teen pregnancies eventhough we educate people in sex from 6th grade, show them titties on TV etc.etc. Seems real education works better than advocating abstine
    And we got one of the lowest crime rates in the world, and the country in the world where people feel the safest. Why? We must be doing SOMETHING CIVILISED that works.

  3. Re:It's the FCC! by goon+america · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here are some more comprehensive numbers, courtesy yahoo finance

    Market Capitalization by Industry:
    Broadcasting & Cable TV: $503B
    Motion Pictures: $24B

    Oil & Gas Integrated: $1.6T
    Oil & Gas Operations: $437B
    Oil Well Services & Equipment: $253B
    Natural Gas Utilities: $155B
    Electric Utilities: $659B