Midlessly idiotic decency regulation

Publius notes that the FCC recently levied a "fine against a local PBS station for airing Martin Scorsese’s documentary on the history of the blues. Apparently, recordings of old blues musicians saying “shit” and “fuck” were too much for Americans’ delicate sensibilities."

He goes on to explain why they did this. It's not exactly what you think (I bet), but if you want to learn the reason go to Legal Fiction.

Publius concludes his piece with this:

While we’re on the subject though, I’m not sure what the justification for allowing the FCC to continue policing indecency is. The indecency rules were created in an age where broadcasters were the only show in town. You literally couldn’t get away from them when you turned on the TV. With the rise of cable and other alternative media, what’s the continuing justification of granting the agency this authority? If there is some sort of label or warning about the content of a broadcaster’s program, what grounds do parents have to complain?

In fact it seems to me there might be a legal argument from broadcasters that the government is favoring its competitors by regulating content only on the broadcast channels, while cable channels continue unregulated.

There is also a further question in my mind. If the FCC can regulate the broadcast channels because they are covered over the airwaves, why can't it regulate the channels going out over satelite systems? They too use the public airwaves. And, virtually every channel there is goes out over satelite.

The whole system seems pretty screwy to me.