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FCC Pitches Free, Bowdlerized Wireless Internet Access

Posted by timothy on from the so-really-we-don't-need-much-bandwidth dept.

Aidtopia writes "FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is proposing auctioning off an unused part of the 25 MHz spectrum on the condition that the winner provide free wireless Internet access. The proposal sets coverage targets that ramp up to 95% of the population within 10 years. The catch: the provider must filter out obscene content." I wonder what definition of "obscene" the FCC would like to use.

6 of 298 comments (clear)

  1. Obscenity has a clear meaning by Phanatic1a · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wonder what definition of "obscene" the FCC would like to use.

    In the US, 'obscene' has a clear legal meaning: material that meets the three-pronged (I said 'prong,' huhuuhuh) test established in Miller v. California:

    1. 'the average person, applying contemporary community standards' would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest
    2. the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law
    3. the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

    Such material isn't protected speech. I think it should be, but there you go: it's hardly surprising that the FCC doesn't want it on a freely-accessible broadcast network. It's an infinitely more reasonable position for them to take than if they were demanding that providers filter "indecent" material, which is a) protected speech and b) has no strict legal definition.

  2. Re:I wouldn't mind this! by fastest+fascist · · Score: 5, Funny

    High-temperature female displays well-hydrated feline! Amazing pseudoadults with brobdignagian dorsal features! Well-matched pairs engaging in close contact!

  3. Defined. by jadin · · Score: 5, Funny

    FCC Okays Nudity On TV If It's Alyson Hannigan

  4. No defense against ASCII Art! by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 5, Funny

    I bet I can make a raunchy ASCII Art out of your 10 words. :)

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  5. Wrong Wrong Wrong by tweak13 · · Score: 5, Informative

    This isn't the 25MHz spectrum, it's a 25MHz block of the 2.1GHz spectrum. Realizing that makes this story make a whole lot more sense. There's no possible way this would work in the HF range.

  6. Re:Obscene is easy, its called fun by Cairnarvon · · Score: 5, Funny

    I like how you self-censored "piss" in a song about how bad censoring obscenity is.