OK.
SO I turn on my computer and log onto CNET News.com to take a look at what's new and noteworthy. What do I see? There's some guy talking about abolishing the FCC; that they serve no useful purpose. My initial reaction is, "how can you get rid of a government agency?" After thinking about it with more fair considerations, I decide that the FCC is not only important, they're necessary to manage CERTAIN aspects of communications. Let me go into more detail about what I mean.
People talked about the whole Janet Jackson deal; how it was raunchy, inappropriate, distasteful, and just plain wrong. Now, the "ripple effect" is in effect, where everything else is being affected by this one incident. I'll tell you that I've seen the video of the performance from two different angles, both close up, and you can clearly tell that it was not intentional. One, you can see the hint of her sheer blue bra peeking out from the leather, an obvious sign that Timberlake was going to strip her piece by piece until she was finally in full on lingerie. Two, this is Janet Jackson we're talking about: easily the biggest tease in the history of music aside from Madonna. She's all about seductive poses and licks. She's not about baring herself - sure, there is that occasional stressing of cleavage, but that's as far as she goes. TO me, it's an insult (and understandably why Janet feels this way) to even suggest that she and Timberlake did this on purpose.
Now let me play Devil's Advocate. I used to be an SBC customer, and when fradulent charges of about $6000 to Jamaica came on the bill, SBC refused to take them off, demanding payment. What'd I do? Contacted the FCC. Next thing I know, a supervisor calls me back and credits $4000 off. The other $2000 they say "since there was a 10-10 code used it means it had to have been your phone" (which since I worked there, I know is a bunch of crap, but whatever, I didn't pay it). What was my purpose in telling you that? The FCC were on top of it. They're on top of complaints like nobody's business, and that's their shine. They can take a dispute or a problem or whatnot and address it faster than any other part of the government. It's their best attribute as well as their worst curse.
For that reason, here's what I think:
- FCC should regulate the telecom industry. By telecom, I mean telephone. ANY company that offers telephone service in any way, shape, form, or fashion. By giving them that type of power, the price gouging that is currently happening will eventually stave off ($7 for Caller ID alone? What a racket).
- FCC should NOT regulate the TV/radio airwaves. This covers satellite, cable, AM/FM/XM, and web broadcasts. Why? IT's simple. All of the soccer moms of the world who complain about the quality of programming because of their kids, NEWSFLASH! It's not the FCC's responsibility to raise YOUR kids right. It's yours. If you don't want them watching TV shows that show suggestive content, maybe you should better control their TV habits. Give them curfews. Do hobbies. If you don't like the quality of music they listen to (and you know you can't fully control this because of other kids at school), then change the station. TV stations can be blocked; just about every TV now comes with this functionality. It's called V-Chip. Use it, and let these stations show what they want without censorship. It's our First Amendment right to see and hear what we wish.
- Finally, whose dumb idea was it to regulate the max speed of a 56K modem? Dumbest thing I'd ever heard. We've got connections that push 6000Kbps, and yet a dialup connection can't even go past 53Kbps, even though you pay for that plus 3. What's the deal with that? And don't give me some crock about tying up circuits, because if that were really the case, all of the ISDN lines would have done that long ago.
Anyway, that's my thoughts. If anyone has anything to add, subtract, comment, rant, rave, whatever, please do.
