April, 30 2009, 02:05pm EDT
CCFC Blasts New Hasbro/Discovery Channel Children's Network
Today, toymaker Hasbro Inc and the cable-TV programmer
Discovery Channel announced that
they will form a joint venture to create a TV network and website with new
programming based on Hasbro toys
and games. The following is the statement of CCFC Director Dr. Susan Linn:
BOSTON
Today, toymaker Hasbro Inc and the cable-TV programmer
Discovery Channel announced that
they will form a joint venture to create a TV network and website with new
programming based on Hasbro toys
and games. The following is the statement of CCFC Director Dr. Susan Linn:
This partnership represents a new low in children's television, a
network devoted to showing infomercials for Hasbro's toys and
games. It will make a mockery of existing ad limits and the current
prohibition of product placement in children's television.
The planned network is the latest indication that the deregulation
of children's television has been an unmitigated disaster for children
and families; no longer do companies feel compelled to even pretend that their
programming is beneficial for children or about anything but pushing
product. We hope that the FCC takes a long, hard look at this new venture as
they consider whether their current restrictions on embedded advertising are
adequate to protect children.
Fairplay, formerly known as Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, educates the public about commercialism's impact on kids' wellbeing and advocates for the end of child-targeted marketing. Fairplay organizes parents to hold corporations accountable for their marketing practices, advocates for policies to protect kids, and works with parents and professionals to reduce children's screen time.
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While applauding the U.S. House of Representatives' bipartisan passage of a bill to ensure that "law enforcement and intelligence agencies can't do an end-run around the Constitution by buying information from data brokers" on Wednesday, privacy advocates highlighted that Congress is trying to extend and expand a long-abused government spying program.
The House voted 219-199 for Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act (FANFSA), which won support from 96 Democrats and 123 Republicans, including the lead sponsor, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio). Named for the constitutional amendment that protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, H.R. 4639 would close what campaigners call the data broker loophole.
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Wednesday's vote followed the House sending the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act to the Senate. H.R. 7888 would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows for warrantless spying on noncitizens abroad but also sweeps up Americans' data.
The House notably included an amendment forcing a wide range of individuals and businesses to cooperate with government spying operations but rejected an amendment that would have added a warrant requirement to the bill, which the Senate could vote on as soon as Thursday.
Noting those decisions on the FISA reauthorization legislation, Ruddock stressed that "today's vote is a victory but follows a recent loss and ongoing threat as that Section 702 bill moves to the Senate this week too."
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Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at ACLU, similarly said Wednesday that "the bipartisan passage of this bill is a flashing warning sign to the government that if it wants our data, it must get a warrant."
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Since 2011, the U.N. Security Council has rejected the Palestinian Authority's request for full member status. On April 2, the Palestinian Observer Mission to the U.N. requested that the council once again take up consideration of its membership application. According to the first State Department cable, U.N. meetings since the beginning of April suggest that Algeria, China, Guyana, Mozambique, Russia, Slovenia, Sierra Leone, and Malta support granting Palestine full membership to the U.N. It also says that France, Japan, and Korea are undecided, while the United Kingdom will likely abstain from a vote.
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