""For years, Lieberman (D-Conn.) has been Washington's most indefatigable proponent of slapping labels on nearly anything he finds personally offensive -- not to mention pressing for V-chips and denouncing the "destructive influence of the entertainment media."
In highly publicized campaigns, the Connecticut politician has linked arms with Book of Virtues author William Bennett to attack Hollywood: The duo tallied how many out-of-wedlock sexual references appeared on network broadcasts during "family hours" and successfully prodded computer-game makers to rate their software. They even pressured Time Warner into selling its Interscope rap label, which sold albums by Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre.
Lieberman co-sponsored the Media Violence Labeling Act introduced in May. It would move the videogame and movie industries toward a single national rating system to be approved by the Federal Trade Commission. He said in June that websites would not be covered, but that his legislation "sets the stage" for such an effort in the future.
Tipper Gore, Vice President Al Gore's wife, began a similar campaign in the 1980s against "porn rock" -- which led to Senate hearings over music content and accusations of censorship from some publishers.
The prospect of the White House being occupied by a Gore-Lieberman pro-ratings combination seems to unsettle some free-speech groups.
"In principle (Lieberman's) in favor of free speech," says Marvin Rich, program director for the National Coalition Against Censorship. "On the other hand, he wants the government to intervene in areas that are probably not subject to government intervention under our First Amendment."
"In a number of areas, he and Tipper are side by side, arm in arm," Rich says.
In June, Lieberman told a Congressional advisory panel that the U.S. government should consider creating a new top-level domain such as ".sex" or ".xxx." (Government auditors have said that only the Commerce Department can add new top-level domains.)
"This idea, which would in effect establish a virtual red-light district ... has a lot of merit," Lieberman said. "For rather than constricting the Net's open architecture, it would capitalize on it to effectively shield children from pornography."
Critics have said the idea won't work because different countries have different standards: Conservative Muslim countries could be exceptionally censorial, while the Netherlands is generally more laissez-faire. Even inside the United States, some artists have been convicted under obscenity laws for lewd cartoons. "
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