Sender: John Whiting <•••@••.•••> Deja nu! John (Moderator's note: The following material is under copyright in the U.S., and is posted to this newsgroup under "fair use" and "teachable moment" doctrines. Please do not post indiscriminately.) ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- From: Larry or Lynn Tunstall, INTERNET:•••@••.••• TO: John Whiting, 100707,731 DATE: 08/03/96 17:48 RE: Playboy ruling (clipping) >>From this morning's San Jose Mercury News: SEX PROGRAMMING PART OF TELECOM LAW BLOCKED WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- A federal judge Thursday suspended part of a new telecommunications law requiring cable companies to block audio and video of sexually explicit programs. The law is being challenged by Playboy. U.S. District Judge Joseph Farnan said Playboy Enterprises Inc. had demonstrated it probably will succeed in its efforts to overturn that portion of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 on constitutional grounds. The blocking provision, scheduled to take effect Saturday, applied to channels that are ''primarily dedicated'' to sexually explicit programs, for instance, Playboy's channels, Spice or Adam & Eve, but not to sexually explicit programs on HBO, Showtime or other channels. Playboy argued the law was unconstitutional and discriminatory because it allowed other cable premium channels to carry programming that can be found on the Playboy channel without having to block them. ''This is a victory for sanity in government,'' said Christie Hefner, Playboy chairwoman and chief executive. ''Playboy has always supported the right of individuals to control what comes into their homes.'' Playboy and many other cable channels already scramble their signal, but the audio portion often is not scrambled so non-subscribers can hear the programs. The video portions of sexually explicit channels also often can be seen as distorted images. The law requires cable companies to either black out sexually explicit channels or keep them off the air during the day. Playboy argued it would lose viewers and revenue if companies limit when the service is available. The blocking provisions would cost cable companies $300 million to $1 billion to implement, and those charges ultimately would be passed on to customers, Playboy has said. In his ruling, the judge said Playboy had demonstrated the provision would cause irreparable harm to the company and other cable businesses, and that it was necessary to halt enforcement until there is a final decision. MERCURY CENTER ID: me04598p Transmitted: 96-03-08 05:44:24 EST ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~-~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~ Posted by Andrew Oram - •••@••.••• - Moderator: CYBER-RIGHTS (CPSR) Cyber-Rights: http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/nii/cyber-rights/ ftp://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/nii/cyber-rights/Library/ CyberJournal: (WWW or FTP) --> ftp://ftp.iol.ie/users/rkmoore Materials may be reposted in their _entirety_ for non-commercial use. ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~-~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~
