From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!utah-cs!haas
Newsgroups: net.misc
Title: Cable TV and the First Amendment
Article-I.D.: utah-cs.991
Posted: Wed Sep 22 12:11:11 1982
Received: Thu Sep 23 04:01:48 1982

In the last few months several cities in Utah have decided that they
want to censor the programming on cable TV networks.  It seems that
the city fathers are concerned that the cable TV companies might
show R (yes R, not X) rated movies, which might not be suitable for
small children.  Since these concerned citizens think that certain
individuals might buy the cable and then not stop their children from
watching these hypothetical movies, laws have been enacted to protect
the children by banning from the cable any programming which the
city council considers "indecent".  Of course the cable TV companies
are claiming the protection of the First Amendment, as I think they
rightfully should.  After all you don't get cable TV in your home
unless you order and pay for it.

Now a new wrinkle has appeared.  The city of Bluffdale, Utah has decided
that the cable TV companies will probably win their constitutional case
(and I expect that they are correct) so Bluffdale has decided to ban
the cable entirely, on the grounds that the city won't be able to control
the programming!  This is an interesting turn on the traditional issue
of technology and society.  The nearest thing I can think of that is
already in effect is the Soviet practice of controlling all the printing
and reproducing equipment in the USSR on the grounds that you might
want to xerox something blasphemous to Marxism.

So the question is now, does the US Constitution protect your right to
the @i[technology] that makes freedom of speech possible?  Or can a
local government preempt access to that technology?

-- Walt Haas

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