How safe are teens online? The delegates at Cox Communications' 2nd Annual National Teen Summit on Internet Safety, held yesterday in Washington, D.C, addressed that and many other questions regarding how teens use the Internet. Judging from the discussion at the Summit and in the delegates' meetings with several lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), these 14 teens are a safe and Internet savvy group, although most of them expressed that they have peers whose online behavior is potentially risky. They added that parents should be particularly concerned about younger kids’ Internet use and that it’s never too early to discuss the importance of Internet safety with youngsters. Hosted by children’s advocate and TV host John Walsh and Miss America 2007 Lauren Nelson, the Summit will air on Cox Cable channels starting later this summer. The eye-opening dialogue also included the teens’ parents, who participated in their own discussions and in Internet safety and media literacy training conducted by Netsmartz and Common Sense Media. Afterward, at a press briefing in the National Press Club, Walsh and Nelson were joined at the podium by one of the teen participants, Christina Johnson (above, with Nelson), who represented her fellow delegates in answering questions from the media and other guests and advising the adults on Internet safety from a teen's perspective. For more on the Summit, click here.

Multichannel News reported that a bill has been introduced on Capitol Hill that would force cable operators to create a family-friendly programming tier, comply with existing federal indecency rules for broadcast stations and/or rebate customers who have blocked channels in a tier. This legislation would seem to force a version of a-la-carte and a view of indecency rules on the cable industry and consumers, but do consumers really want this?

Consider this. Most of the major cable operators reported outstanding first quarter 2007 performance, including significant success with digital cable which features dynamic parental control features. Cox even saw an up tick in basic analog cable. Cable TV is performing well in the face of ongoing stiff competition from satellite and new telco competitors. Cox customers are showing increased satisfaction with their services thanks to new programming choices as well as high definition, On DEMAND and DVR innovations which are increasing the value of their video service and the convenience associated with its use. Consumers direct the free market with their wallets. Americans clearly love their cable TV, and Government intervention threatens this love affair by threatening private investment and further innovation.

And the latest winner of the Let’s Bash Cable for Fun and Profit Award is Haggar. Yes, the pants people. In an “episode” of their “Making Things Right” campaign, two very average Joes make everything better by taking their frustration out on a hapless, clueless, tardy cable guy by stranding him on the roof. (Wait, if he’s on the roof, wouldn’t that make him a satellite guy?) Hapless cable guy: “I’m freakin’ out here, all right? Just bring the ladder.” Very average Joe #1: “Oh, we will, sometime between the hours of 7 and 11. Probably closer to 12:30.” Oh, we’re in stitches here. Stitches like those on uncomfortable poly-blend sans-a-belt slacks.