Right wing "Parents' Empowerment Act" to usher in new era of censorship!

A new bill introduced in Congress last month wants to allow parents to take the law into their own hands every time their children are exposed to material that they feel is objectionable for minors to see, hear or read.

the language of bill opens to door for civil suits for those involved in the creation, distribution and sale of mainstream entertainment products such as R-rated movies, rap music, and shock jocks like Howard Stern.

And the bill is talking about not just the Internet and interactive entertainment products; movies, music heard on the radio or purchased on a CD, and even books are specifically identified.

As the bill is currently written, that means that if a parent finds out that their teenage son listens to rap or Howard Stern in the morning, they can sue for $10,000 for every sexual reference or fart joke their child hears. And, of course, victims would be entitled to compensatory relief and legal fees.

http://www.avnonline.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Web_Exclusive_News&Action=View_Article&Content_ID=95553

Text of the proposed law:

CIVIL ACTION FOR A MINOR INJURED BY EXPOSURE TO AN ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCT CONTAINING MATERIAL THAT IS HARMFUL TO MINORS.

http://www.theorator.com/bills108/hr4239.html

The Parents' Empowerment Act: finding the porn in Harry Potter

And so a Republican Congressman called Duncan Hunter is pushing for new legislation to discourage anyone from saying anything that might upset a child. How can this be done without censorship? By suing everyone, of course!

http://www.lnreview.co.uk/media/journal/001851.php

This bill would make it so that the creator of any material which any parent finds offensive for their children, would be subject to massive lawsuits.

It could be the end of free speech for adults in the United States if it is passed and upheld. All speech in the United States would have to be safe for all children according to every parent in the United States.

The Nazis are here!

This is another "fundie fascist" attack. It will backfire right in their holy faces.

entertainment, literature, music, videos and TV. The right is always trying to legislate morality.

You can't keep a kid from everything. And there is such a thing as parent's responsibility though as I said it can't be perfect.

It's just another extreme right bill pushed by a few congressmen at the behest of their voters only to pander to them, knowing full well this will never ever pass either the House or Senate

We need to keep a close eye on the people pushing these bills, though, as this one has the potential to censor everything from the Internet to the library - two of the things that right wingers hate the most.

would pass any bill that screams out censorship based on ignorance and faulty logic. This is one of those bills. Maybe after the next sElection.

Throw them to the wolves!

Fart jokes? What's the point in being a kid if you can't listen to fart jokes? AFAIC, bush is the biggest fart joke of all.

Try and stop me, pussyboy hunter!

you can`t. it`s just another stupid republican who wants the courts to raise raise kids. dam these people are bad parents...

eom

Then we'll all be reduced to children once again.
How wonderful!
We might begin to understand what Smirky is talking about!
</sarcasm>

I find intolerance objectionable. I find racism objectionable. Rush Limbaugh. Sean Hannity. homophobia. sexism. the dominance of manufactured corporate culture at the expense of nearly everything else.

In short, the whole conservative agenda is objectionable, a threat to the very fabric of our society.

Only if involves suing corporations who are rethug donors. Everyone else is fair game.

:eyes:

the other pseudo-religious nutcases? Heaven knows their message is harmful to just about everybody.

This is so stupid, I'm beyond words. I thought the republican party hated frivolous lawsuits?

if by some sleight of hand they actually managed to pass this. Ted Nugent would be bankrupt (fiscally, I mean; he's always been morally bankrupt) within two or three days' worth of 'Wango Tango' on one of the Clear Channel stations that seem to love him so much.

Hey, doesn't Clear Channel broadcast Bob and Tom, too? That's some of the raunchiest crap I've heard on the air. Most Clear Channel radio stations broadcast an unending stream of fart and sex jokes, sexist banter and endless borderline soft-porn on their morning shows. Wonder where whatsisname who owns CC stands on this one? It ain't like Howard Stern is the only one who ever talked about sex toys on the radio, after all.