No To BC!

The Broadcasting Commission (BC) in its quest to be the gatekeepers of Jamaican morality have gone ahead and issued a directive, which smacks of a poorly thought out decision on the part of the policy makers. The directives states that cable companies remove all A  and X-rated channels from their general packages. This directive is in an effort I was told to protect our children.

Lest we forget, a few months ago the same BC kowtowed to pressure from a few prudes and banned daggerin’ songs and videos as well as Rampin’ Shop from our airwaves. And then, when the dancehall supporters came out en masse to protest and accuse the regulators of a class bias they banned soca. The end product of all this banning was that the prudes got their wish and the BC was made to look inept. In appeasing the prudes, the BC and the gatekeepers of morality just used a Panadol to treat a brain tumour. Because, whether we want to admit or not, Jamaica is not a moral society; it was never a moral society and will never be a moral society. So, I can bet the last $88.72 in my bank account at a wager of 100 to one that within the next three years another moral argument concerning dancehall will pop up and the BC and the gatekeepers will wax fervently about how our society has gone to the dogs.

But, I will say more on that when the time comes.

The BC by telling cable companies to stop offering A and X-rated channels as part of their general packages is like the Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) telling supermarkets to remove alcohol from their shelves because Christians and children will be tempted to purchase them.

While I believe that the BC must regulate and regulate well, it cannot be the ‘parents-in-chief’ for the country. For one, if I have children, I should not be taking ‘A’ and X-rated channels in the first place because children being how they are will find away to get around it.

Believe me, I can relate because of an incident I encountered a few years ago. A mother who had A rated channels placed a code on her box to prevent her 14-year-old son from watching them. But Junior being the astute youngster he was, tried all possible combinations from 000 to 9999 over a period of time. He eventually figured it out and proceeded to enjoy Cinemax’s After Dark programming. It was only after a surprise visit to the living room from mommy one night that she figured out that Junior, who muted the TV while he enjoyed the carnality,  had breached her code. Junior’s act forced the mother to remove cable from her house. She only subscribed to the service when a cable company started offering packages minus A and X-rated channels. So Junior now has cable but no Cinemax, HBO or Showtime to enjoy at nights.

Also, if I live alone and I am paying for the package which includes my A and X-rated channels why must a cable company deprive me of my enjoyment. Clearly, I could get cheeky and file a complaint with the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) although it would be a waste of time. Better yet, I could file a complaint with the Fair Trading Commission (FTC). However, I would just be wasting time again because the cable companies could argue that I should just make a call and have the service restored.

But, the BC and the prudes will continue to regulate the airwaves to save our kids. And, for all their efforts, the kids are finding ways and means to watch porn.  Just look on their cellphones and ask a bootleg DVD vendor if you don’t believe me.

So BC, those who you are seeking to protect don’t want protection.

By Idi Amin