from www.nydailynews.com – Who’s playing the Super Bowl half time show this season?

The Who were supposed to. But if a pair of watchdog groups have their way, that won’t happen, according to ButlerReport.com.

The groups – Child AbuseWatch and Protect Our Children – are incensed that the NFL invited Pete Townshend’s band to play February’s halftime show, since the guitarist was a registered sex offender in the U.K. between 2003 and 2008. Townshend had to register for that five year period after admitting to breaking the law by searching for child pornography on his computer.

While Townshend may have copped to downloading the porn, he said it was part of research he was doing to help stop the practice. The advocacy groups aren’t appeased.

Protect Our Children has not only been protesting the NFL over the Who’s inclusion in the Super Bowl. They’ve also contacted the Immigration and Naturalization Department about the issue.

They’re calling on a clause in U.S. immigration law which allows authorities to deny entrance to the country to “aliens convicted of – and those who admit – having committed a crime involving moral turpitude.”

POC’s Kevin Gillick ranted to the ButlerReport, “how he (Townshend) has been given access to the U.S. remains a mystery or perhaps it’s another demonstration of celebrity privilege.”

According to the U.K.’s Guardian, the NFL has responded to the groups with a letter stating that Townshend never faced criminal charges in the matter.

Last year, Child AbuseWatch wrote to the organization behind the Kennedy Center Awards protesting their decision to honor Townshend and his band. The honor went through as planned.

The Superbowl takes place Feb. 7 in Miami.