Exactly. After all, the only thing that the FCC can ban out right on broadcast television is obscenity, which the Supreme Court has held is not protected by the First Amendment. Profanity and indecency, on the other hand, are protected by the First Amendment. That's why the FCC's rules only go so far as to deal with timing of profanity or indecency (not when children are likely to be watching).

And the First Amendment is also why the FCC cannot censor, it can only fine after the fact.

Admittedly, unpredictable enforcement by the FCC may leave broadcasters unsure of what will be considered "fineworthy," causing them to err on the side of caution. The "context" aspect of the FCC's view of profanity and indecency can also add uncertainty. But as anyone who has tried to wade through and apply the Supreme Court's decision on the religion clauses of the First Amendment can tell you, that is nothing new or unique to the FCC.

And it is a far cry from suggesting that the goverment is going to take away our freedoms and control what we watch.

I agree with everyone. Parents need to monitor their children, but they can't do it 24/7. They can't monitor the tv, internet, music, and the like for every second.

One way or another, kids will get a view of shows that are "raunchy". For example, if you tell your kids that they can't watch MTV, period, well one day, they'll get curious.

Another point: Sex sells, period. If it weren't for sexy tv, then The OC and other shows would be boring, now would it? If you don't like to see the raunchy shows, use the remote or parental control (don't tell the kids the code). SImple as taht.

I would like to bump this post for a good reason. On one of my facebook groups, I was talking about the censorship in anime. Now, I know some of you don't care about anime, but unfortuently, Americans view anime as cartoons for kids. That's why anime gets butchered to the "Mickey Mouse" level. And that what makes anime fans (including myself) tick. For example, I read that a woman's cleavage is "erased" in the American edits of anime, especially in Salior Moon. Hello, don't we see cleavage on Deal or No Deal and on MTV? I mean, cleavage is not nudity.

Besides, we are more conservative with how shows should be aired than in Japan. In Japan, people are more comfortable with their kids watching nudity than we are. Many Americans tend to think that all nudity is porn. IT'S NOT!!! If nudity includes sexual penetration, then it's a different story.

If anime fans want the uncut version, then they would have to buy a multi-region DVD player and shell lots of money to buy the DVDs where there are no English subtitles.

The bottom line is that, if the parents don't like what they see on TV, they can turn it off. Read a book, for crying out loud.

censorship of tv will only be the begining

so here is a question, that I want to ask right now,

if you value your liberty to watch what you want, do you know how to operate an assault riffle to defend that liberty?

Yes.

But that's no answer to whatever problems we have.

It may come a time when that is the only answer we have left