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How to Keep Pornographic 'Signal Bleed' out of Your Home 5/15/2003 'Signal Bleed' ... a problem you can end. Parents, fed up with finding their children watching recognizable images of various and graphic sex acts with the attendant groaning and moaning, complained to Congress. The problem is called "Signal Bleed."
Cable television companies "scramble" the signal of premium programming to which cable customers do not subscribe. When scrambled properly, the TV screen is usually blank or blue and there is no sound.
Proper scrambling cuts into cable companies' profits. Improper scrambling provides enough of a sample to entice many customers into subscribing to the program, which means more profits for cable companies. It amounts to clever and cheap advertising.
"Signal bleed" is the result of inadequate scrambling of the video and audio signals. It allows some of the images and sound to be seen and heard. More often than not, the signal bleed occurs on the pay-per-view porn channels. Then it becomes offensive as well as clever and cheap advertising.
Congress responded to parental complaints. The Telecommunications Act of 1996, with two sections to protect cable customers, especially children, from signal bleed, was enacted.
Section 505 of the law was mandatory. It required total blocking of both the video and audio signals, or time-channeling the sexually explicit programming between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Section 504 was intended as a fall-back for customers whose cable providers chose the time-channeling provision. It permits customers to instruct their cable company to fully block both the video and audio signals upon request and without charge.
The Playboy Entertainment Group, with support from assorted pornographers and their allies, such as the American Library Association, filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the law violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.
It's hard to imagine how "signal bleed" is speech, especially when cable customers don't want to hear it or see it, but to smut-peddlers, speech is anything and everything.
Tragically, the U.S. Supreme Court reached a decision in U.S. v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc., that threw out Section 505, holding that this section of the law violates freedom of speech under the First Amendment. The Court said that Congress may not force cable operators to fully scramble or otherwise fully block the audio and video signals of cable channels primarily dedicated to sexually explicit and indecent programming to the homes of cable customers who do not subscribe to such programming. As a result of the Court's ruling, sexually explicit programming that is only partially scrambled will continue to invade the homes of cable customers—unless they take advantage of Section 504, which the Court upheld.
Section 504 gives cable customers the right to instruct their cable company to "without charge, fully scramble or otherwise fully block the audio and video signals of programming" of each channel carrying sexually explicit and indecent programming into their home, such as but not limited to the Playboy, Spice, and other pay-per-view channels. If you are a cable customer, you must take advantage of Section 504 if you want to protect your home and family from these images of sex acts and other indecent programming.
Following is the text for two postcards for you to mail. One is to be sent to your cable company instructing it, in accordance with Section 504, to completely block to your home the audio and video signals of sexually explicit programming channels, and to do so at no cost to you.
The second card is to be sent to Concerned Women for America to let us know that you have instructed your cable company to block these signals. This will help us compile a record of how many cable customers have taken advantage of this provision. It will also place the cost of protecting your home on the cable operators who profit from pornography. Hopefully, cable operators will get the message that the majority of American families don't want porn on cable television.
Even if you don't subscribe to cable television, please pass this information on to others who do.
Dear Cable Operator:
In accordance with Section 504 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. § 560, I am requesting that you immediately and "without charge, fully scramble or otherwise fully block the audio and video signals" of each channel carrying sexually explicit and indecent programming to my residence, such as but not limited to Playboy, Spice, pay-per-view, and all other channels to which I do not subscribe. Thank you.
Date: _________________________
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Dear Concerned Women for America:
I agree that cable pornography and any signal bleed resulting from the failure of cable operators to fully scramble or otherwise fully block the audio and video signals of sexually explicit and indecent cable programming are harmful and should be fully blocked to non-subscribers. As a result of being informed of my rights under Section 504 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. § 560, I have mailed instructions to my cable operator to fully block to my home both the audio and video signals of sexually explicit and indecent programming and all other channels to which I do not subscribe. Thank you for informing me of my rights under the law.
Date: _________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
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Concerned Women for America 1015 Fifteenth St. N.W., Suite 1100 Washington, D.C. 20005 Phone: (202) 488-7000 Fax: (202) 488-0806 |
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