S.Court Rules OK For FCC To Fine Over Expletives
So the next time a star drops a F bomb on live TV and the network doesn’t catch it in time, Supreme court agrees that networks can be fined by the FCC. This ruling came from Fox bringing the case to court in 2006 stemming from Cher dropping a f bomb in her acceptance speech during the now defunct Billboard Music Awards in 2002.
In its 5-4 decision, the court said it did not find the FCC’s policy on so-called fleeting expletives either “arbitrary or capricious,” dealing a blow to the networks in their efforts to scuttle the policy. But the case brought by Fox to the high court was a narrow challenge on procedural grounds to the manner in which the FCC handled its decision to toughen up its policy on fleeting expletives.
Fox, with the support of ABC, CBS and NBC, argued that the commission did not give enough notice of nor properly explain the reasons for clamping down on fleeting expletives after declining to issue penalties for them in decades past. The issue first arose in 2004, when the FCC sanctioned, but did not fine, NBC for Bono’s use of the phrase “fucking brilliant” during the Golden Globes telecast. (Source)
Duh. Celebrities should have more tact that they are on national television and leave the f bombs and other bad superlatives at home. No, the networks have no control over such things but thanks to Janet Jackson’s unfortunate incident mostly all live broadcasts are time delayed anyway.
