There once was a national agency to regulate the transmission of any type of signal through the air. Like all agencies, it seemed a good thing when it was created…
First, they had control of the broadcast waves themselves. With a little stretch, they grabbed the ability to control the content. The windfall came with the development of television. The agency protected the public in various ways: it controlled who got to use which broadcast frequencies; it prohibited concentrated control of all the news media (tv, radio & newspapers) by a small number of entities; networks were prohibited from owning the actual broadcast stations; it required that some broadcasts serve the public interests; it controlled the broadcast of violence, profanity and sex.
And, it started to lose control…
Continue reading “"The Broadcast Flag" – A Fable in One Part”