NPR's Ira Glass defends Howard Stern

[Sid Schweiger]

>>There can be no doubt that the rules are--and have to be--arbitrary.<<

And that, if I understand the law correctly, will be its downfall.  Our "house" lawyer on this list can probably speak to this better than I can, but the courts don't generally like "arbitrary."  Since the CEO of Viacom has already promised a legal showdown for all the fines he refuses to pay, the FCC could well be reduced to the role of a spectrum cop, with NO enforcement power over programming of any type, if they lose this or a similar case.

In any case, by reversing themselves in the Bono case and by not fining stations that carried the Oprah Winfrey show's decidedly non-clinical discussion of sexual techniques, they've already broken their own rules and have set the stage for their regulatory emasculation.

Sid Schweiger
IT Manager, Entercom Boston LLC
WAAF-WEEI AM/FM-WQSX-WRKO-WVEI
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Boston MA  02135-2040