FCC Questions Legality of Restroom, Snack Breaks

Photo by Paul Townsend from Bristol, UK, Via Wikimedia

Controversy has always surrounded methods of recording television shows that allow one to skip the commercials. It often frustrates advertisers, especially in the current environment of entertainment that is sustained almost entirely by ad revenue.

Recently, the FCC took the issue a step further by questioning whether it's legal to get up during commercial breaks to use the restroom or to get food from the kitchen. During the meeting the fact that people often talk to each other during commercials was also addressed, but this was decided to be only a minor deterrence.

Some proposed a more passive-aggressive solution to this, instead of litigation, in the manner of accelerating plans to allow full-blown pornography in network advertising. However, many felt that, despite progress made in the last few decades, current levels of desensitization and objectification of the human body were not adequate for such a move.