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Thursday, July 08, 2004
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New FCC Requirements Unconstitutional
I saw on Slashdot that the FCC is to Require Broadcasters to Retain Copies of Broadcasts for 60-90 Days.

Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced (through a notice of proposed rulemaking) that it will likely be requiring all broadcasters to retain copies of their broadcasts for 60 - 90 days in order to better combat indecent broadcasts (In the Matter of: Retention by Broadcasters of Program Recordings):

In this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ("NPRM"), we propose to require that broadcasters retain recordings of their programming for some limited period of time (e.g., 60 or 90 days) in order to increase the effectiveness of the Commission's process for enforcing restrictions on obscene, indecent, and profane broadcast programming.

Decency Nazgul and Commissioner Michael Copps was enthusiastic about the new requirements (Statement of Commissioner Michael J. Copps, Re: Retention by Broadcasters of Program Recordings, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking):

The process by which the FCC has enforced the indecency laws has for too long placed inordinate responsibility upon the complaining citizen. When someone sends in a complaint, he or she is usually told to supply a recording of the program or a transcript of the offending statement, or the complaint will be dismissed. This policy ignores that it is the Commission's responsibility to investigate complaints that the law has been violated, not the citizen's responsibility to prove the violations.

Of course I'm no legal expert, but doesn't this fly in the face of the 5th Amendment, and possibly the 4th? Because the networks are financially liable for their broadcasts (not the person who performed the illicit act who was the subject of the broadcast), the FCC is essentially requiring them to not only make and keep evidence that might incriminate them, but also make it available to the prosecuting authority so they can be found guilty at a later date. Am I missing something here?
# Posted at 11:05 AM by Nick  |  Comment Feed Link No Comments  |  No Trackbacks

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