Bill to Bring A La Carte, Indecency Regs to Cable

An anonymous reader writes "A bill introduced this week would force cable operators to offer à la carte cable and so-called family-tiers of service. Those opting for à la carte programming would get refunds on their cable bill, but the legislation would also extend broadcast indecency standards to cable and satellite TV for the first time: 'In accordance with the indecency and profanity policies and standards applied by the [FCC] to broadcasters, as such policies and standards are modified from time to time, not transmit any material that is indecent or profane on any channel in the expanded basic tier of such distributor except between 10pm and 6am.' As Ars points out, 'With the parental controls built into every television set, set-top box, and DVR being sold these days, the need for such legislation seems questionable at best. Unlike broadcast television, which is available to anyone with a TV and an antenna, people subscribe to and pay for cable/satellite.'"

Comments

Bill?

[dave_mcmillen]

Did anyone else read this and think, "Bill who?" No, I, uh, didn't think so . . .

Re:Will we really save money?

[MobileDude]

errr, perhaps they're not that ^cool^ if they can survive on their own?

Yes, people pay for cable

[overshoot]

and yes, the sets have "parental controls." However:

• The parents don't use those controls,
• Therefore the Government has to step in For the Sake of the Children!

There are rumors that one reason the parental controls aren't being used is because the parents who want them are also dependent on their children to set them up.

Re:I want a'la carte, but

[Anonymous Coward]

"extend broadcast indecency standards to cable and satellite TV for the first time: "

the price they want is too high.

That's the toned-down version. The original bill also wanted to "force viewers to register their viewing plans online with the Department of Homeland Screwiness 48 hours in advance".

Excellent!

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's see what survives. Was I paying for your shit, or were you paying for mine?

Re:Will we really save money?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it means that 33%-60% of the screen is covered by goddamned "bugs" or popups advertising other shows.

Re:It's political.

[TheRaven64]

A La Carte was a typo in the original bill. It was meant to read A La Cartel.