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Memorandum <br />March 30, 1988 <br />Page 3 <br />rated or pornographic. (The Quad Cities franchise does not <br />Include this specific language, but there is general lan- <br />guage regarding the control of programming content.) The <br />contracts state that the city has the authority to determine <br />which pornographic programs offend the standards of decency <br />of the city. <br />The Federal Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 <br />provides at Section 624(d): <br />(d)(1) Nothing in this title shall be con- <br />strued as prohibiting the franchising author- <br />ity and the cable operator from specifying, in <br />a franchise or renewal thereof, that certain <br />cable services shall not be provided or shall <br />be provided subject to conditions, if such <br />cable services are obscene or are otherwise <br />unprotected by the Con t tution of the United <br />States. (Emphasis added). <br />(2)(A) In order to restrict the viewing of <br />programming which is obscene or indecent, upon <br />the request of a subscriber, a cable operator <br />shall provide (by sale or lease) a device by <br />which the subscriber can prohibit viewing of a <br />particular cable service during periods <br />selected by that subscriber. <br />The Constitution of the United States provides in the <br />First Amendment that the rights of freedom of speech and <br />freedom of 3xpression shall be nrntectcd <br />5'atzs Constitution avid not restricted b local, <br />united <br />federal governments. However, obscene material is tisnot�proo- <br />tected by the First Amendment. <br />While newspapers and magazines are broadly protected by <br />the First Amendment and have relatively unrestricted author- <br />ity to print rhatever they choose, broadcasting mediums are <br />not so protected. In the broadcast area, the Supreme Court <br />has consistently held that reasonable public interest regu- <br />lation of broadcasters does not violate the broadcasters' <br />First Amendment rights. <br />r the <br />cableoregulationpurposes , akey issof any Fi <br />rstnt sis <br />®' should be treated more like newspapers or more like broad- <br />casters, and to what :rtent factors unique to cable systems <br />should be considered in balancing the appropriate First <br />