FCC: America’s New Speech Police

I find it incredible in America that a regulatory agency thinks it has jurisdiction to probe an independent business.  Oh, but I forget about Chrysler, GM, and our banking system.  Foolish me.  What the Federal Communications Commission is doing is outlandish and smacks of tyranny in the making.  We should brace ourselves because the implications for free speech in America are grave.  Your right to hear what you want to hear when you want to hear it is something our government doesn’t give a damn about.  The free marketplace of ideas is something that is evil to them.

The FCC has announced it will probe Arbitron’s new audience measurement system for radio stations – it’s called the Portable People Meter.  Arbitron is an independent company and the FCC has no jurisdiction over it.  But, acting FCC Commissioner Michael Copps and his fellow Democrat Jonathan Adelstein disagree.  Adelstein has been quoted as stating the commission has “clear authority” over broadcast signals, and “legitimate questions” to ask about Arbitron’s system, which relies on these signals, and operates as a currency for the industry.  (more…)