November 22, 2000

FTC Discovers the First Amendment
Biotech Corn Story Mutates
FBI's Carnivore Needs Training

FTC Discovers the First Amendment

Two months after issuing a report accusing the entertainment industry of aggressively marketing violent, adult-rated entertainment to children, federal regulators decided yesterday that they will not pursue legal charges against any of the companies involved, according to The Washington Post.

Federal Trade Commission lawyers had considered charging film, music and video-game companies with engaging in deceptive or unfair advertising practices before determining that such action could be defeated on grounds that the marketing campaigns are probably protected by the Constitution's free-speech provision.

Bringing a case against entertainment companies would "place the agency in a position that raises serious questions under the First Amendment," FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky advised in a letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.).

In "Rated V for Violence: Legislation Stamping Warning Labels on Electronic Media May Cause Constitutional Sticker Shock," Visiting Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies Ronald D. Rotunda warns about government intrusion into parents' responsibilities, including the Media Violence Labeling Act of 2000, now pending in the Senate. Introduced by Sens. John McCain and Joseph Lieberman, the bill would require manufacturers and producers of audio and visual products -- including movies, video games and music -- to label "violent content in audio and visual media products and services." Rotunda writes that "even though this bill is in the early phases of consideration by the Senate, it raises implications so troubling it is important to evaluate it now."

Biotech Corn Story Mutates

The genetically engineered protein that caused massive recalls of taco shells and other corn products has been found in a second variety of corn, raising questions about how it got there and how much additional corn may have been contaminated, according to The Washington Post.

The company that created the biotech corn, Aventis CropScience, said yesterday that the gene that was spliced into its StarLink corn -- Cry9C -- had been found in another corn hybrid produced by the company licensed to produce StarLink.

In "Taco Terrorism," Steven Milloy writes that there's no need to panic. "The science underlying the claims and the track record of the anti-biotech groups will leave you more inclined to believe that Taco Bell's Chihuahua really can talk," he argues.

FBI's Carnivore Needs Training

The Washington Post reports today that a draft study released yesterday by the Justice Department found that the FBI's hotly debated Internet wiretap program is a sound law enforcement tool but needs modification to protect people's routine e-mail and other communications from being intercepted unlawfully.

The study, undertaken by the Illinois Institute of Technology Research at the request of the Justice Department, said although "Carnivore" can be "more effective" in protecting privacy and enabling lawful surveillance than other alternatives, it does not eliminate the risk of unauthorized monitoring of electronic communications by FBI agents. The report recommended that Carnivore be modified, subjected to further outside review and ultimately have its underlying "source code"--the technical details of how its software works--released to the public.

In "How Big Brother Began," Solveig Singleton writes that seemingly innocuous measures by government can lead to an Orwellian state.

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