Canada Lifts Ban Of Dire Straits Song

Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing" is returning to Canadian radio.  Eight months after its ban for a gay slur in the song's lyrical content, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has reversed its decision to yank the 1985 classic from its national playlists.  The CBSC said after "considerable additional information," it learned that alternative versions of the song have been in existence for more than 25 years and determined that the composer did not have an "insulting intention" in the musical context in which the word is used.
"Money For Nothing" was pulled from Canadian playlists in January after a listener complained about the song's use of the offensive "f-word" in reference to homosexual men.  Veteran Canadian broadcaster Alan Cross is among those praising the CBSC's decision to lift the ban on the Dire Straits song.  He tells "Rolling Stone," "It made us look silly in the eyes of the broadcast community around the world."