At present broadcasters – when they stray from decency standards – are merely fined by the Federal Communications Commission. But, Sensenbrenner told his audience, that process is inefficient and ineffective, because it often can punish broadcasters who are trying hard to clean up their act.

"People who are in flagrant disregard should face a criminal process rather than a regulator process," said the House chairman. "That is the way to go. Aim the cannon specifically at the people committing the offenses, rather than the blunderbuss approach that gets the good actors.

"The people who are trying to do the right thing end up being penalized the same way as the people who are doing the wrong thing," he said.

HR and Reuters said under the present system, when a violation occurs, the FCC will contact the offender, detail the infraction, and, "if no settlement is reached, issues a fine."

So far, cable broadcasters have been more free to air racy content than the big, and original, three network broadcasters, ABC, NBC, and CBS -- the reason being consumers must actually pay to view such cable networks in order to see their broadcasts.

But there has been a trend in Congress of late to clamp down even on cable broadcasters – an attitude brought on after entertainer Janet Jackson flashed her right breast during the halftime show of the 2004 Super Bowl.

And while "obscene speech is not protected by the First Amendment and cannot be broadcast at any time, but indecent speech can be aired safely between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. because the courts and the FCC have determined that children are not a large part of the audience in those hours," said the report.

How will he "criminalize" indecency? Sensenbrenner wasn't specific when asked, saying only that the best way to do it is by not "penalizing people who are not violating the law."

It wasn't all criticism for the cable industry, however. In one moment of praise, the Wisconsin conservative thanked cable broadcasters for at least offering consumers and adults with children the technology to block certain channels they don't want viewed.

Editor's note: