ABSTRACT
Major fines by the FCC have focused attention on government efforts to address indecency on traditional over-the air television. In fall 2004, the Fox Broadcasting Company, facing an FCC fine of $1.2 million, took issue with federal regulators who said that an episode of “Married by America” that aired April 7, 2003, featuring male and female Las Vegas strippers in sexual situations, was indecent and patently offensive. The FCC said, “Although the nudity was pixilated, even a child would have known that the strippers were topless and that sexual activity was being shown.”1 On that occasion, still in the wake of the exposure of Janet Jackson’s breast (“Nipplegate”) during the 2004 Super Bowl half-time show on CBS, FCC commissioners voted unanimously to fine each of the 169 Fox affiliates airing the “Married by America” program $7,000, totaling $1.183 million.
Beyond these efforts to address transgressions by the so-called traditional media, the federal government has taken steps recently to address issues raised by the growth of obscenity and indecency on the Internet, including protecting children from sexually explicit materials online. This concerted effort was best represented by Congress’ creation of the Commission on Online Child Protection (COPA). The commission released a report in October 2000, evaluating child protection policies and technologies including accessibility, costs, and methods of protection such as monitoring and family contracts. It identified the need for a public education campaign to alert the entire nation to the growth of online materials harmful to minors and methods available to protect children while they are online.
The commission noted the growth of this material and encouraged government support for legislation to address it. It also attempted to offer industry and the private sector the incentive to engage in a national debate to address the next generation of systems for identifying, evaluating, and labeling content to protect young people. While the results have been uneven, the government, working especially with public
libraries, made the first meaningful effort to identify a serious, growing problem and has taken the first few small steps to address it.
