From: Robert Rothenburg Walking-Owl <rrothenb@ic.sunysb.edu>
Date: Thu, 9 Feb 95 06:54:08 PST
To: strick@techwood.org
Subject: Re: Effects of S.314 (Communications Decency Act)
In-Reply-To: <199502081902.LAA01787@gwarn.versant.com>
Message-ID: <199502091453.JAA26458@libws4.ic.sunysb.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


[ .. ]

No disagreements with your reply. Of course the first amendment (or the rest
of the Bill of Rights) has stopped legislators from passing restrictive laws.

The line between indecency and obscenity is vague. Legal defense fees are
not... not are opportunistic prosecutors-- which is a real problem. Look at
what happened to Jello Biafra and the Dead Kennedys if you'd like an
example. I've heard that there were recently busts in Florida of some BBS
systems that carried the alt.sex* groups while universities in the area which
also carried them weren't touched.


The "safe harbor" is 10pm, but many radio stations (like WUSB here in Stony
Brook, where I do some radio programming) use midnight as a safe time and
give periodic warnings during shows in any indecent material is aired.

Problems with these vague and-or unenforcable "decency" laws is that they
allow for selective enforcement which is often motivated more by politics
and personal greed than by their alleged concerns for decency.

> 
> In the U. S., you have a first ammendment right to indencent speech.
> 
> The question of a late-night "safe harbor" for indecent speech on the
> air is about when children are likely to be listening.  First
> ammendment rights apparently don't apply to children who are listening
> to the radio.  
> 
> Right now there is a "safe harbor" from around 10pm (or is it 9pm?)
> thru 6am, but this changes regularly, usually as a result of "case law"
> (someone being prosecuted under next month's rules, not this month's)
> 
> 				strick
> 

Rob