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View Full Version : Court rules FCC crackdown on broadcaster on air curse words is unconstitutional



Sweetchuck
07-13-2010, 10:18 PM
Keep fucking that chicken.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/13/2010-07-13_court_rules_fcc_crackdown_on_broadcaster_on_air _curse_words_is_unconstitutional.html

An F-bomb here or there? No problem!

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Federal Communication Commission's indecency rule is unconstitutional.

The decision strikes down the policy of fining broadcasters for foul language that was put in place after the January 2003 NBC broadcast of the Golden Globes awards show when U2 front man Bono used the F-word.

"The FCC's indecency policy is unconstitional because it is impermissibly vague," the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in its 32-page decision that covered everything from George Carlin's 7 dirty words to comments by Cher and Nicole Richie on a Billboard Music Awards show, one of several cases that led to the decision.

"The first problem arises in the FCC's determination as to which words or expressions are patently offensive," according to the decision full of words that up to now have been routinely bleeped over.

"For instance, while the FCC concluded that "bullsh-t" in a "NYPD Blue" episode was patently offensive, it concluded that "d--k" and "d--khead" were not."

The FCC has argued that language can be permitted to a news program if its deemed "integral" to a program, but the judges blasted that language.

"There is little rhyme or reason to these decisions and broadcasters are left to guess whether an expletive will be deemed 'integral' to a program or whether the FCC will consider a particular broadcast a 'bona fide news interview,'" the panel wrote.

Although striking down the current policy, the judges said "we do not suggest that the FCC could not create a constitutional policy. We hold only that the FCC's current policy fails constitutional scrutiny."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdnXYWSa56w

darin
07-14-2010, 03:47 AM
gawd, I hate the FCC and the FDA...wonder how much money we could save by eliminated them? FCC's policies are hypocritical. Course, I suppose "the public" in this country is, too.

So - Show a partial breast for 4 seconds during a half-time show = $500000 fine. Quotes like "OMG! My KIDS were watching that!! Oh the huge manitee!!"

Fill the superbowl with commercials talking about sexual intercourse, erections, and such = no problem.

DragonStryk72
07-14-2010, 11:49 AM
The Fda gets 3 billion a year, and $335,794,000 for the FCC. 3.3 billion, which to put into more reasonable figures, would work out to $11.12 person person in the US (Families could see 55 or more).

Now, that is just their budgets at this point, that does not include the various side expenses and stuff for the agencies that monitor both, or the paperwork involved in obtaining their budget, so actually, the number is still higher that what I just posted.

I do grant the FCC one caveat. They keep all of their budget info online for us on their site, so thumbs up on the transparency.

http://www.fcc.gov/Reports/fccbudget.html