Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Representative Joe Barton (R-Texas) are teaming up to propose new broadcast content rules which would extend the FCC’s jurisdiction to include cable TV networks. The measure is likely to be popular in the increasingly conservative Congress, but may not pass legal muster in the federal court system. “The Supreme Court held in 2000 that cable operators aren’t subject to federal indecency rules because they are financed by subscribers who pay for access and because viewers can request that channels be blocked. Broadcasters have argued that cable should be subject to the same indecency rules as network TV.”