Powell Raises Indecency Flags

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell appears to be getting a little worried that the rush to regulate indecency might produce unpassable legislation.

According to a Reuters report, he told reporters following a speech to state utility regulators that he was concerned that some provisions of indecency legislation in the House and Senate, including the "three strikes and your license might be yanked" policy could be problematic.

"There are a number of things that give me pause because I don't want to see enforcement remedies being captured by constitutional litigation," he said.

Powell agreed with numerous legislators that tying indecency regs to any rollback of FCC media deregulation could be a bill-killer. On this path, he suggested, "it just seems to me we've probably got a lengthier process and we may or may not get a bill at the end of the day."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.