FCC Indecency Ruling Struck Down

arbitraryaardvark writes "Reuters reports that the 2nd circuit has struck down the FCC's recent ruling on indecency, in a case brought by Fox. The court said the U.S. Federal Communications Commission was 'arbitrary and capricious' in setting a new standard for defining indecency. 'Republican FCC Chairman Kevin Martin angrily retorted that he found it "hard to believe that the New York court would tell American families that 'sh*t' and 'f@ck' 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.' No word yet on whether the agency will appeal.

Comments

Fleeting use...

[KingSkippus]

What he's leaving out is that the case was over the "fleeting" use of such words, such as during live events when something accidentally slips through. If a pre-recorded show has the words in there and it is deliberately broadcasted, the indecency rules still apply.

The problem is that currently, the FCC sometimes enforces the standard of "fleeting use," and sometimes it doesn't. The courts are just saying that it needs to be standardized and rationally applied.

No, you're wrong.

[Anonymous Coward]

They pander to the far right, too.

A Worthless Shill for the Fascists did speak:

[Ralph Spoilsport]

"hard to believe that the New York court would tell American families that 'sh*t' and 'f@ck' 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,"

And since this is a "free country" you will have every right and opportunity to NOT WATCH the television. You and your children can do something like READ A BOOK, or GO FOR A WALK, or LEARN TO PLAY AN INSTRUMENT, or any number of perfectly useful activities that do not include glotzing some retarded screen full of disinformation and jejune entertainment that reinforces a false consciousness that convinces people to act and live in a way that fosters the parasitic tapeworm economy.

Feh.

RS

Re:Freedom of Speech?

[MightyYar]

I know that you must really hate the man, and I'd hate to detract from a good healthy visceral hatred, but Bush came along 65 years after the creation of the FCC. "Shit" and "fuck" have been banished from the airwaves for a very long time.

Re:The FCC missed the point -- as usual

[jZnat]

And referring to George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television"* is not a valid list as people *coughSterncough* have been fined for others.

* Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, and Tits.

Re:The short version

[KaiserSoze]

Your point is understood, but I'd rather look at this as a rebuke of the massive hypocrisy of the Bushies. So it's ok for Cheney to tell a Senator (on the floor of the Senate) to "Fuck off" but someone saying "Fuck this war" on TV results in massive fines? Hey Cheney: fuck off.

Obligatory FCC song

[interactive_civilian]

I believe this calls for some Eric Idle: The FCC Song (Free download, NSFW language in the song).

According to Eric Idle, it is dedicated to the FCC, and if they broadcast it, it will cost a quarter of a million dollars. Have a listen. :)

Re:But Wait...

[Verteiron]

Reality has a well-known liberal bias.

Re:So now we're afraid of swearing on the internet

[arbitraryaardvark]

the opinion is here in pdf. here online commentary includes volokh