Wired: FCC Crackdown Could Spread

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is riding the line between cracking down on broadcast potty mouths and veering into unconstitutional limitations on free speech. The FCC's jurisdiction over broadcast media was borne of the federal government's right to dispense monopolies over certain broadcast frequencies. But in other media, such as cable and the internet, this connection doesn't exist, and judges have been striking down FCC attempts to expand their portfolios.

As an over-regulated television and radio industry watches cutting edge content escape to cable and the internet, Congress may get involved - as it has tried in the past - to put the same socially conservative fetters on the newer media. But it's not clear that this would pass constitutional muster.