h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I posted this over in askh2 last night, but I thought I'd leave it here, too. I'm interested in hearing what you all think of this hair-brained (or is it hare-braned? Rabbits aren't stupid enough to do this kind of thing to each other...) idea.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/auto/epaper/editions/sunday/opinion_0442326e064c624b0099.html

I would like to know exactly what the criteria for deeming programming worthy of captioning are, according to this panel.

As horrendous as that is, it really sounds like a budget driven thing, more than some deep-seated urge to censor. There are certain types of programs that the government is by law required to provide close-captioning for (the news, pbs stuff, etc.), and while they used to interpret the mandate as broadly as possible, it looks like they are not using a more limited interpretation to save cash -- and there really aren't that many ways to narrow the interpretation.

My bet is that this is something that will eventually be picked up by the cable companies....