Copps Supports Mandatory Program Tapes

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps urged quick action on the commission proposal to bring back program retention rules for stations. Copps, long a supporter of show tapes, said, “The process by which the FCC has enforced the indecency laws has for too long placed inordinate responsibility upon the complaining citizen. When someone sends in a complaint, he or she is usually told to supply a recording of the program or a transcript of the offending statement, or the complaint will be dismissed. This policy ignores that it is the commission’s responsibility to investigate complaints that the law has been violated, not the citizen’s responsibility to prove the violations.”