Kennard Hopes Jackson Fine Ruling Spurs Broader Debate
Former FCC chairman William Kennard, speaking for campaign of Sen. Barack Obama, discusses parental controls with former National Telecommunications and Information Administration head John Kneuer, representing Sen. John McCain.
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/22/2008 10:59:00 AM
Speaking for the campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), former Federal Communications Commission chairman William Kennard said Tuesday that he hoped the Third Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to throw out the FCC fine against CBS stations' broadcast of the Janet Jackson Super Bowl halftime show would spur a broader debate about the need to put content-control technologies in the hands of parents.
He added that this was in contrast to the Bush administration's focus on ramping up enforcement against broadcasters.
"We have a lot of headlines about the Janet Jackson case, but it really doesn't address the key issue, which is how we can protect our families and our kids from harmful content," he told a Washington, D.C., audience at a Minority Media & Telecommunications Council forum Tuesday.
Kennard, now a managing director with investor The Carlyle Group, was sharing the stage with John Kneuer, senior vice president of Rivado Networks and former head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, who was speaking for the campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
Kneuer said he agreed that the FCC's indecency standards needed rethinking.
Kennard said the current FCC indecency-enforcement regime was inadequate because it did not deal with the reality of content available elsewhere, including the Internet, cable and satellite. But he clarified to reporters later that he was not suggesting expanding the enforcement regime to those other platforms.
He said that by suggesting that the current regime was lacking, the "more" that he was looking for was more focus on technology tools.
"The statute focuses on a very narrow slice of media today, over-the-air-broadcasting, but everybody knows people are accessing media over different platforms,” he added. “I am not suggesting that the law needs to expand to other platforms. I'm saying that we need a rethinking of how we are going to address these problems."
Kneuer said the legal framework for indecency enforcement was "overdue for examination." He added that there remains much uncertainty and that people need to understand what their exposure is -- he said no pun intended -- and suggested that the framework was outdated, created before cable and satellite. He said there needed to be a "holistic" look and a new framework that "all parties and consumers can understand."
He seconded Kennard's suggestion that parents need more tools to help control content. He even cited a personal experience, recounting his electrical engineer father's "precursor" to the V-chip -- a lock he installed inside the set that would turn off the current. "He kept the key in his pocket," Kneuer said.
When the viewers have control of content, will it be time for the FCC to step away from regulating it? Both said they still saw a role for the commission.
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