Indecency regulations as they apply to a subscription service lik...
Indecency regulations as they apply to a subscription service like satellite radio are “appropriately different than those for free over-the-air broadcasters,” which are given spectrum for free in return for a public service obligation, an XM Satellite Radio spokesman…
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said in response to concerns about indecency on satellite radio (CD March 3 p10). But the spokesman said XM takes the issue of indecency “very seriously,” and has acted “carefully and responsibly” to impose safeguards, including the labeling of explicit content in its channel listings and the front-panel display of the radio itself: “We also are providing subscribers with an easy means of blocking any of our channels.” The current debate on indecency standards “has very little to do with satellite radio,” he said. The technology is in less than 1% of the 200 million vehicles on the road, he said, and “the vast majority of our subscribers listen in the car, and driving is by law an adult activity. So compared with the TV experience, it’s an incredibly rare instance when a child might have the opportunity to tune into XM without adult supervision.” The spokesman echoed his Sirius counterpart when he said “there is no controversy” on his company’s authority to launch local traffic and weather services in major markets. He cited news reports quoting FCC representatives as saying XM was in compliance with Commission rules, which don’t specifically prohibit local traffic and weather services.