Martin Says Parents Need Help Navigating V-Chip Waters

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told senators that parents need better and more tools to help them navigate visual entertainment, particularly on cable and satellite TV.
The debate over whether parents can understand how to use the V-Chip blocking technology in their televisions was debated as part of the indecency hearing held by the Senate Commerce Committee (see previous story).
“Congressional statutes already prohibit indecency and profanity on broadcast radio and television, and by enforcing these provisions we can help deter media companies from putting indecent programming on broadcast,” he said. “But this will not help address the growing problem of the increasing amount of coarse programming on cable and satellite, and the lack of tools parents have to avoid supporting the programming they do not want to let into their homes.”
He didn’t let industry off the hook, though, saying, “The industry’s lack of action is notable.”