The LA Times (annoying reg. req.) has an interesting article on public access cable channels pushing the boundaries of obscenity law (TV on the Edge - or Over It). This article combines two interests of mine: 1) Amateur Television and 2) Obscenity Law.
With the lowering of costs to create television shows, more and more people will be doing so (Vlogging is part of this trend). Most will be dreck, but some will be more interesting and creative than anything the networks can produce. Indeed, I would be very interested in sampling at least some of the shows described.
As for obscenity law, it is a theoretical mess. Frankly, I don't think it makes much sense. I like to see the boundaries stretched, particularly in non-commercial contexts (where prosecutions seldom succeed).
Favorite quotes:
Even Los Angeles, the cradle of the nation's adult film industry .... is studying whether to relocate public access TV to the Internet, where "it's not in people's faces," said Liza Lowery, head of the city's Information Technology Agency.
....
When an offensive program airs, he [Zane Blaney, executive director of San Francisco's Channel 29] says, he's as shocked as anyone.