The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation unanimously passed their version of the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act earlier today after adding five amendments to the bill.
Overall the Senate version of the bill is tamer than the draconian measures adopted by the House in their version of the bill, but the Senate came dangerously close to expanding the role of the FCC to include oversight of cable and digital dish channels.
A proposed amendment to place cable channels under the jurisdiction of the FCC narrowly failed, losing by a 12 to 11 margin.
Indecency regulations prohibit radio and TV stations from airing material that refers to sexual and excretory functions, between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children may be listening or watching. The material that is not allowed is often referred to as the “George Carlin 7”, after the comedians’ monologue on the subject.
Despite widely circulated reports that claim the bill was amended to increase fines to $500,000 for violations of the FCC indecency code, the Senate version of the bill called for fines of $275,000 per violation, a tenfold increase from the current penalty of $27,500 per violation.
If the Senate version of the bill passes, each utterance or showing of indecent material can result in a $275,000 dollar fine, with a limit of $3 million dollars in fines per 24-hour period.
Individuals can only be fined up to $500,000 dollars, and their ability to pay such a fine must be considered when issuing fines.
After three violations, the FCC will automatically review a station’s broadcast license, and there is the possibility that it could be taken away under an amendment that is similar to the House version of the bill.
Violent programming was added to the list of content the FCC should monitor. Specifically, one amendment to the bill will make it illegal to distribute violent content during hours children may see the show, without labeling it so.
The bill also calls for marketing practices of those who produce violent content to be closely monitored by the FCC.
The final amendment calls for a moratorium of the FCC’s controversial expansion of media ownership rules that increased the amount of broadcast media outlets any one company can own in a single market until a study on the effects of market consolidation and the spread of indecency is completed. It is often noted the two largest radio companies, Clear Channel and Infinity, account for a combined 80 percent of all indecency violations.
