ACLU Rep Calls Smut Actions "Ridiculous"

ACLU REP CALLS SMUT ACTIONS "RIDICULOUS"
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The American Civil Liberties Union lobbyists have been talking to Senators, trying to dissuade them from moving forward with a bill that would boost FCC indecency fines dramatically. While the ACLU has not commented publicly on the FCC's recent indecency enforcement actions proposing over $3 million in fines against CBS stations, among others, ACLU legislative counsel Marv Johnson calls them "ridiculous" and says that he thought they made a broadcaster court challenge more likely, particularly as the fine amounts mount. He said the ACLU would likely join such a suit as counsel, or at least file a supporting brief. Johnson points out that while the FCC used to count numerous complaints from one group--say, members of the Parents Television Council--as one complaint, it changed its methodology to count them individually (in part because PTC complained it was being undercounted). That means yesterday's single complaint would today be a hundred thousand. "What they are trying to do is make the indecency problem as big an issue as possible," says Johnson.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6320491?display=Breaking+News