We read:
"An appeals court threw out on Wednesday a federal agency's decision to fine CBS Corp television stations $550,000 for airing singer Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl broadcast.
A divided 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said that in imposing the fine, the Federal Communications Commission "arbitrarily and capriciously" departed from prior policy that exempted "fleeting" indecency from sanctions.
In a statement, the FCC said it is disappointed by the decision, but plans to use "all the authority at its disposal" to ensure that broadcasters serve the public interest when they use the public airwaves.
CBS spokeswoman Shannon Jacobs said the New York-based company is gratified by the decision, and hopes the FCC will "return to the policy of restrained indecency enforcement it followed for decades."
Jackson's right breast was briefly exposed to almost 90 million TV viewers after the singer Justin Timberlake accidentally ripped off part of her bustier during a halftime show performance. CBS was fined $27,500 for each of the 20 stations it owned.
The 3rd Circuit in 2008 voided the fine, but that decision was vacated when the Supreme Court in 2009 upheld the FCC policy as rational, in an opinion involving News Corp's Fox TV stations. It did not decide whether the policy was constitutional, and returned the CBS case to the 3rd Circuit.
Writing for a 2-1 majority, 3rd Circuit Judge Marjorie Rendell said that the FCC had for three decades maintained a "consistent refusal" to treat fleeting nude images as indecent, and that there was no justification to change policy for CBS.
The Supreme Court is expected in its current term to decide whether the FCC policy is constitutional.
Source
6 comments:
"to ensure that broadcasters serve the public interest when they use the public airwaves..."
If the FCC were truly interested in doing that, they wouldn't allow the MSM to lie and distort the truth whenever they report "news".
At one time, watching TV meant watching a program that was occasionally interrupted by commercials. Now, we're watching commercials that are occasionally interrupted by a program, most of which are sub-par. And, if you subscribe to cable, you are paying through the nose to see all those unwanted commercials!
Rather than worrying about some "wardrobe malfunction", which was phony and staged to get more viewer ratings, why doesn't the FCC do something about an advertising industry which is clearly out of control.
If you don't like the commercials, then don't watch. The effing commercials are what pays for the damn shows, idiot!
The only valid purpose of the FCC is to regulate what frequencies, and at what power levels, are avaialble, then assign them to whoever wants to broadcast on them on a first come, first served, basis. The point being to keep broadcasters from stepping on each other's signals, or trying to overpower their competitors, and etc. Commonsense stuff like that.
It should be up to the people to regulate what they want to watch or listen to.
-L
You can buy TV shows, commercial free, for $2-3 bucks each, or buy whole seasons on DVD/Bluray.
I just record and fast forward..
Freedom 1 Big Brother 0
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