CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LIABILITY.

SEC. 638. [47 U.S.C. 558] CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LIABILITY. Nothing in this title shall be deemed to affect the criminal or civil liability of cable programmers or cable operators pursuant to the Federal, State, or local law of libel, slander, obscenity, incitement, invasions of privacy, false or misleading advertising, or other similar laws, except that cable operators shall not incur any such liability for any program carried on any channel designated for public, educational, governmental use or on any other channel obtained under section 612 or under similar arrangements unless the program involves obscene material.