Does this mean we can now say it on Clutchfans? US court rejects FCC broadcast decency limit (Note strong language in paragraphs 4, 6. Adds analyst in paragraph 8) By Martha Graybow http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070604/3/32w7k.html NEW YORK, June 4 (Reuters) - In a major victory for TV networks, a U.S. appeals court on Monday overruled federal regulators who decided that expletives uttered on broadcast television violated decency standards. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, in a divided decision, said that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission was "arbitrary and capricious" in setting a new standard for defining indecency. The court sent the matter back to the commission for further proceedings to clarify its indecency policy. The FCC, which said it was still studying the opinion, could decide to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the appeals court. The FCC ruled in March 2006 ruling that News Corp.'s Fox television network had violated decency rules when singer Cher blurted "****" during the 2002 Billboard Music Awards broadcast and actress Nicole Richie used a variation of that word and "****" during the 2003 awards. ADVERTISEMENT No fines were imposed but Fox had challenged the decision to the appeals court, arguing that the government's decency standard was unclear, violated free speech protections and that the rulings had contradicted findings in past cases. Republican FCC Chairman Kevin Martin angrily retorted that he found it "hard to believe that the New York court would tell American families that '****' and '****' are fine to say on broadcast television during the hours when children are most likely to be in the audience." "If we can't restrict the use (of the two obscenities) during prime time, Hollywood will be able to say anything they want, whenever they want," Martin said in a statement. Paul Gallant, an analyst at Stanford Washington Research Group, said the FCC's indecency regulations would likely end up before the high court. "This does seem to have 'Supreme Court' written all over it," Gallant said. Martin was silent on a Supreme Court appeal, though Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, a Hawaii Democrat, and the Parents Television Council urged the FCC to appeal. The stakes are high for broadcasters who could face fines of up to $325,000 per violation. FLEETING EXPLETIVES INDECENT? The three-member appeals panel focused on whether expletives were used repeatedly or were only uttered fleetingly. The FCC had argued that, under certain conditions, one utterance can violate the decency standard. "We find that the FCC's new policy regarding 'fleeting expletives' represents a significant departure from positions previously taken by the agency and relied on by the broadcast industry," Judge Rosemary Pooler wrote for herself and Judge Peter Hall in the majority decision. "We further find that the FCC has failed to articulate a reasoned basis for this change in policy," the ruling said. "Accordingly, we hold that the FCC's new policy regarding 'fleeting expletives' is arbitrary and capricious." The court did not rule on constitutional challenges to the FCC's policy. But the majority of the judges suggested it could be tough for the commission to prevail on constitutional grounds. "We are skeptical that the commission can provide a reasoned explanation for its 'fleeting expletive' regime that would pass constitutional muster," the majority wrote. Judge Pierre Leval dissented, writing that he believed the FCC "gave a reasoned explanation for its change of standard." Fox said it was "very pleased with the court's decision" and that it believes "that government regulation of content serves no purpose other than to chill artistic expression in violation of the First Amendment." "Viewers should be allowed to determine for themselves and their families, through the many parental control technologies available, what is appropriate viewing for their home," Fox said. The FCC under the Bush administration embarked on a crackdown of indecent content on broadcast TV and radio in 2004 after pop star Janet Jackson briefly exposed her bare breast during the broadcast of that year's Super Bowl halftime show. A few weeks after that incident, the FCC reversed an earlier staff decision and ruled that the fleeting use of an expletive by U2 rock star Bono during a 2003 NBC broadcast was indecent. FCC Chairman Martin has pressed subscription television services to give customers the option of blocking channels they find offensive and on Monday opened the door for the idea of blocking broadcast channels as well. "Permitting parents to have more choice in the channels they receive may prove to be the best solution to content concerns," he said. (Additional reporting by Peter Kaplan in Washington and Paul Thomasch in New York)
i have no response for this so now is an opportune time for me to put a picture i made of Rick Adelman after one year coaching the Rockets
I don't know if this means it is okay to say **** on TV. They sent it back to the FCC so they can put together a more coherent system. The FCC has seemed to be very capricious about its application of indecency rules, allowing foul language in some instances and getting their panties in a wad over the same language in another circumstance. Personally, I'd like them to continue to enforce decency rules all the time, since they'll have to pick between Always and Never.
I noticed on BBC America (On Demand, anyway) that D**k, F**k, S**t are all used on the show "Coupling". Now, I don't know if they came across on air when they first broadcast in the UK, but I wouldn't doubt it. Not saying it's right or wrong, just throwing that out there.
For some reason, some instances of bleeping the curse words out makes the comedic effect greater, like on Family Guy.
Here's a question for FCC experts. Does the FCC actually have legal regulatory authority over cable stations? I know they can regulate anything that goes over public airwaves but I've never read anything that actually says that they can regulate cable stations. It seems like it should be similar to the radio/satellite radio distinction. From what I can understand, Cable stations generally follow the FCC regulations but I'm curious as to whether it is actually binding regulation or if they're just self-regulating.
This thread should be in D&D - anyway Kevin Martin's fuming official g FCC press release (in which he used "f-ck" and "sh-t" 6 times, without any censorship) basically proved the petitioners case better than they ever could, for reasons to be expounded upon in another forum.
The words dont mean anything, its the context and content of how they are used that determines if they are appropriate. they are just words...
More like 'silly', knote. Slash isn't a bad word, man... I keed. I 'memmer that one like it was yesterday... it was the American Music Awards in 1980-something-late, when Guns and Roses got their award for something and Slash said: "Thank you for fLIcking... OoOoOps..." [cut to commercial, cue music] Was that it?
The FCC has no jurisdiction over cable. There have been bills introduced in Congress that would bring cable under FCC's decency restrictions, but none has passed to date. Any decency restrictions on cable channels are self-imposed.
