HIGH COURT SIDESTEPS CONTROVERSIAL RULING ON ON-AIR INDECENCY

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday tossed out rulings by the Federal Communications Commission that fined Fox and ABC for violating federal indecency standards. But the court’s own ruling dealt not with the principal question of free speech that the FCC’s action raised but with the narrower question of whether the commission had properly notified […]

BRITISH TV REGULATOR WARNS ABOUT SEXY CLOTHES, DANCES

OFCOM, Britain’s TV watchdog, has warned broadcasters about showing “sexualized clothing and dance routines” before the 9:00 p.m. watershed hour, when children are likely to be watching. “It is important to note that in pre-watershed content, OFCOM would not expect to see singers and dancers wearing clothing that does not adequately cover their bodies (in […]

FCC BROADENS ITS DECENCY APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT

In addition to the Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” case the Supreme Court may now hear the FCC’s appeals of two other decisions by appellate courts that appeared to deal a death blow to the agency’s enforcement of broadcast decency rules. On Thursday the commission filed a 54-page petitioner brief refuting the appellate courts’ rulings that […]

COURT OVERTURNS FCC INDECENCY FINE

In yet another blow to conservative parents’ groups and religious organizations battling what they consider indecent content on broadcast television, a federal appeals court on Tuesday overturned a $1.2 million fine that the Federal Communications Commission had imposed following ABC’s 2003 telecast of an NYPD Blue episode that included a brief shot of a woman’s […]

FCC WANTS REHEARING OF INDECENCY CASE

Saying that a federal appeals court’s recent ruling overturning its rules on “fleeting expletives” makes it “all but impossible” to enforce its decency rules the FCC on Thursday asked for a rehearing of the case. FCC General Counsel Austin Schlick said that the court’s decision “raised serious concerns about the commission’s ability to protect children […]

DIRTY WORDS GET A REPRIEVE

In a unanimous decision, a three-judge U.S. appellate court on Tuesday struck down an FCC rule that allows it to fine broadcasters for using “patently offensive” language on live television. Ruling that the FCC policy violates the First Amendment, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said: “By prohibiting all ‘patently offensive’ references […]

COURT QUASHES FCC’S INDECENCY RULE

A U.S. appellate court today (Tuesday) struck down an FCC rule that allows it to fine broadcasters for using “patently offensive” language on live television. Ruling that the FCC policy violates the First Amendment, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said: “By prohibiting all ‘patently offensive’ references to sex, sexual organs and […]

FOX STATIONS FACE FINES FOR”AMERICAN DAD” EPISODE

The FCC may fine Fox Television Stations $25,000 for failing to provide it with information about an episode of the animated American Dad in which one of the characters is instructed to masturbate a horse. (“Give it a full release,” the character says. “Give it a happy photo finish. Take the glue out of the […]