[FYI] Pinning a label on violence in media

[Kristian Köhntopp <kk@netuse.de>]

http://www.freedomforum.org/news/2000/06/2000-06-23-07.asp

Wenn das mal constitutional ist?

Pinning a label on violence in media

By Paul McMasters
First Amendment Ombudsman

06.23.00

Someone should be keeping track of all the proposals coming out of Congress
to regulate what the rest of us can see, hear and say. It is a long and scary
list.

The latest such proposal comes from Sens. John McCain and Joseph
Lieberman in the form of the Media Violence Labeling Act (S. 2497),
resurrected and revamped from the remains of last year’s attempts to
regulate speech. 

The purpose of this bill is to pin a label on violence. Not just any violence in
any medium, but all violence on all “audio and visual media products and
services.” That means essentially a one-size-fits-all rating system for a
universe of media: music, movies, videos, computer games, and other forms
of entertainment that Americans listen to, watch or play.


The law would compel media producers and manufacturers to come up with a
uniform labeling system for “violent” content to be reviewed by the Federal
Trade Commission. If the system did not satisfy the FTC, the agency would be
empowered to create a suitable rating system itself. The law would suspend
antitrust laws so the media companies could conspire to censor themselves.

...

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