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I know what Bono and the broadcast networks will call today’s ruling on FCC’s policy on fleeting expletives by a federal appeals court – “f**king brilliant.” In a major victory for the U.S. broadcasters, the three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal tossed the FCC indecency rules, claiming that it “violates the First Amendment because it is unconstitutionally vague, creating a chilling effect that goes far beyond the fleeting expletives at issue here.” The FCC policy was put in place after NBC’s broadcast of the 2003 Golden Globes Awards, in which U2 lead singer Bono used the phrase “f**king brilliant” in his acceptance speech. The FCC said at the time that the F-word in any context “inherently has a sexual connotation” and can lead to enforcement.
Fox challenged the rules after becoming an early victim when the FCC found its 2002 and 2003 Billboard Awards broadcasts violated the new policy with profanity use onstage by Cher and Nicole Richie. The network was obviously pleased by today’s ruling. “We have always felt that the government’s position on fleeting expletives was unconstitutional,” it said in a statement. Who wasn’t happy? Conservative watchdog Parent’s Television Coincil. “For parents and families around the country, this ruling is nothing less than a slap in their face,” PTC president Tim Winter said.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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Another blow for decency and morality. This ruling is wrong.
Really? Its amazing how conservatives are for small government and little regulation of everything with the exception of morality.
Agreed!!
just clarify – i agree with this comment- not the top one:
Really? Its amazing how conservatives are for small government and little regulation of everything with the exception of morality.
Comment by on liberty
Cheers Liberty! Well said! Small government except when it deals with morality…lol. Good one Lib!
You said it! Conservatives clamor for deregulation across the board – except when it comes to lifestyle issues, then they are all about calling on a higher authority – the US Government.
Well said. Conservatives bitch about wasting money on public schools and health care, yet have no problem paying people to sit around and watch TV all day to make sure nobody says anything naughty.
Besides, every TV these days has a system for blocking certain program ratings (14 and M, for instance), so why do we need the FCC to “protect” us in the first place?
You said “blow”. Heh heh.
wrong in whose eyes? not mine.
What can you say to this person except “Go fuck yourself.”?
Thank you for the suggestion, Tim Winters. I’d like to slap these fascist fifth column pieces of filth in the face for trampling on my first amendment rights in the name of their religion. If these anti-constitutional, anti-Americans really believe that words have the power to corrupt their idiot children, they should learn to use the remote control.
Let’s hope that this is just the beginning of the end of all religious puritanical restrictions on free speech such as the entire concept of “obscenity”. People in America are still being prosecuted for violating the very subjective concept of “obscenity”. The DOJ is even venue shopping (i.e., chosing to prosecute in very conservative parts of the country where they are more likely to a jury to convict). When the Supreme Court allowed for the curtailing of free speech based upon the subjective and a vague concept of “obscenity”, it nothing more than a back handed way of enforcing religious dogma upon everyone. Unless it is established by empirical evidence and peer reviewed scientific studies that a form of speech is unreasonably harmful, there should never be any restriction on free speech regardless of how offensive any one particular individual may find that example of free speech.
it’s a victory for freedom of speech and against an antiquated edifice like the FCC
FCC’s only job should be to make certain that the spectra is used efficiently. Never should have anything to do with the content being broadcast over it.
It’s interesting why it was ruled unconstitutional, in that it doesn’t necessarily say that the FCC doesn’t have the right to regulate the airwaves, but rather that, as the regulations are currently written, they’re too vague. It’s a big difference, but I’m curious to see the effect on things.
Big win for us liberals. Kids everywhere will one day appreciate our first amendment right to say F**K in their home. And hey if single mothers have such an issue with it, don’t subscribe to cable. It’s that simple. I’d rather we lose a quarter of the audience than not be able to hear the F bomb. Good for broadcasters. Good for them and good for us liberals.
Aha!! Dropping the “F” bomb; now I finally know what liberals are good for.
Don’t assume one has to be a liberal to agree with this ruling. Don’t assume all conservatives are crazed holy rollers. I don’t assume all liberals support the “rights” of nambla (as the ACLU has defended). And pretty much everyone has their own hypocrisies of some sort.
Is it SO important to you to hear swearing on lower tier cable, or even broadcast television? Sad. Start watching FX or pony up for the premium movie channels. That is where all the best tv shows are nowadays anyway.
How classy…
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are rolling over in their…beds.
or
George Carlin just got a stiff(the noun) woody.
Says you. Thankfully you’re not the fuckin’ arbiter of morality for others. Besides, “swear” words aren’t “immoral” just because close-minded tightass dipshits say they are. Society decides on a communal basis what is and isn’t acceptable, not some nebulous on-high authority. In this case, the blow struck for free speech that doesn’t hurt anyone (unlike hate speech, which does encourage hurting others) truly is FUCKING BRILLIANT!
These judges clearly didn’t watch this year’s MTV Movie Awards. Nothing fleeting about those expletives.
I expect the broadcast nets will continue with 7 second delays and somebody’s finger on the bleep button.
fcc only regulates broadcast tv channels not cable. even though mtv is censored it is not because the fcc. no matter what mtv shows or any other basic cable shows on their channel they can not be fined by the government because you pay for them and they do not operate on free public airwaves.
Sensible ruling. I mean, a handful of “swear” words were indecent…yet Fox news anchors can spew venom and hate and ridicule and malice at everyone left of Atilla the Hun, but that evidently is “decent”. And showing all those hacked up, bloody murder victims on CSI Miam is decent, but if they say “f*ck” that’s indecent. Violence is okay, while anything related to sex, not even showing it but just words, is indecent. Gotcha.
So the nutbar above has decided that news that he doesn’t want to hear is “indecent”. And with that, the hatred of the left for Fox News has now reached comical proportions. Just knowing how successful Fox News is, and how that drives the left (apparently) nuts, makes me happy. Thomas, balanced news is not for you. I think you’d be more comfortable with “unbalanced”…
Fox News isn’t really as successful as you think they are. They found a niche in the cable news market in the sense that old white people were tired of only getting their biased news from AM radio personalities. Even the most conservative of people I know admit Fox News is super biased toward their political views and that’s why they watch it. You can try and say it’s the same for CNN/MSNBC, but they are nowhere near as blatant as Fox and certainly don’t run borderline satirical “fair and balanced” bumpers every 10 minutes.
@ Noddy – You think Fox News is “balanced” just because Fox says it is?? You’ve been brainwashed, my friend. Remember, the brainwashed don’t know they’re brainwashed.
Simple experiment for you: watch Fox News, while concurrently switching to other channels’ news. You’ll find it glaringly obvious that Fox highlights different stories and reports/spins them in much different ways than the rest of the channels.
Is this because Fox has a “unique” take on things? Or maybe because their “reporting” follows an AGENDA. If you have an agenda when reporting, there can be no balance. That’s what the “nutbar” you refer to above was calling indecent. (And, isn’t “nutbar” one of those Glenn Beck terms for people he disagrees with? Way to have your own voice/thoughts)
Disagree with that estimation? Watch the documentary “The Corporation”, in which 2 FORMER Fox anchors detail how their story about the hormones in cow’s milk being dangerous for human consumption was twisted, turned and eventually suppressed by Fox brass because they have major advertising ties to the dairy industry. These anchors fought for their story and eventually lost it and their jobs. Fair? Balanced?
I remember watching the results on election night ’08, switching channels as I described above. Local affiliates as well as national broadcasts had numerous guest speakers on their shows, analyzing the incoming data. They had remote cams all over the country, getting peoples’ feedback from bars, restaurants, private homes, wherever people congregated to watch. You could see right in front of you the entire nation – all races, sexes, economic backgrounds, etc – anticipating the results.
Switched to Fox News – there where 4 old, white guys behind a desk, speaking very somberly, no guests, no remote cams, nothing. When Obama won, the other channels showed reactions from their various locations around the nation. Fox? They cut away from the studio exactly once: to show a female Asian reporter announcing the victor amid a bunch of drunk, aggressive gang-banger thugs in Compton, because as we all know, those were the only people waiting for election results. This is but one example. Balanced, you say? Only if you’re brainwashed.
PS – heard a guy on Fox news the other day trying to defend BP’s oil spill by making the argument that we shouldn’t worry about the oil spill because compared to the size of the world’s oceans, the spill is a relative drop in the bucket so everything’s fine. I suppose you follow that logic too?
Talk about being “more comfortable with ‘unbalanced’”…
Swear words like the 7 words that George Carlin made famous are still indecent by law. What will have to change is the FCC’s policy of “fleeting” indecency which was quite arbitrary and clear as mud. It’s also not fair if there’s a technical or human failure. What this means is the FCC will have to find a way of re-wording the rules so they are not unconstitutional and are fair if the Supreme Court ends up siding with the Court of Appeals. The fines and penalties are not commensurate with any offense. They are laughable and the FCC and Congress need to get their acts together. And the PTC should be slapped often and hard for their idiocy as well. They are the greatest threat to Free Speech and the Constitution there is at this time and should be treated as the terrorists they are. They are almost on the same moral footing as Al Qaeda and their view to change the morals of the world to reflect their lack of true morals.
You just know this will go to the U.S. Supreme Court where all bets are off. Even the Conservative justices tend to favor the First Amendment and oppopse government regulation, which ought to collide with their paternalistic zeal to control morality (as previous posters have noted). Perhaps they will cite the WBAI “Seven dirty words” decision in specifying “don’t”s and “be careful”s ala the MPAA’s old Production Code. (OTOH, if you think the FCC’s indecency rule is vague, try charting the MPAA’s Classification and Rating Administration ratings some time).
What’s indecent and immoral is the notion that ANYONE can impose their morality on the rest of us for language that that is casual and doesn’t harm anyone. And for those who would claim it’s harmful, buck up. It’s the 21st century.
Now that this is out of the way, how about the REAL danger to the 1st Amendment going on right now, the trail of John Stagliano. I know Deadline doesn’t cover the adult entertainment industry, but it’s still a big deal.
Funny how conservative “Christians” favor banning free speech when it comes to expletives they use on a daily basis to describe liberals or anyone whose political opinions don’t conform to their crypto-fascist worldview, yet they all become strict Constitutionalists at the mere hint that their precious guns might be taken away.
glad to see the court shooting the new rules down for on the bais of free speech the new regulations would be a nightmare to enforce for networks would have found it immpossible to comply for they would not know what would wind up setting off the regulations even some one saying have to go take a crap under the proposed regulations would have the fcc fining and laying down the hammer. glad the courts struck down the thing at least till the fcc finds some way to resurect the thing
This is not a free speech issue. Surely, you can get your point across without profanity. It might be hard not to throw in an f-bomb like it’s some sort of adjective/adverb/noun all in one. Try using a dictionary to more eloquently speak your mind.
Yeah that’s nice, unfortunately that’s a critique on society as a whole and not what networks should be allowed to air at 10PM. Real people use swear words, it happens every day from the most conservative to the most liberal. When you don’t allow these words on television you cannot have realistic writing. This is one of the many reasons why viewers are flocking to cable with shows that have more realistic portrayals of people and how they communicate.
In other words, go fuck yourself.
Good, there are bigger problems in this world than a swear or two. And if it’s kids they are worried about most kids I hear today swear like drunken sailors…
The people for these indecency regulations would use that as proof for their moral crusade. Unfortunately they fail to realize children have been cursing since well before media like television and movies were influencing them.
Lies aren’t news, douchebag.
with all this talk and the years of court battles on this episode, how many people have actually seen/heard what happened?
i haven’t checked youtube but you should.
i remember the moment because, like all awards shows, i tape ‘em and watch them later so i can fast forward through the horrible bits.
Bono said it VERY quickly and with his Irish accent slightly slurring the offending word. i caught but i also hit rewind to see if i really heard what i thought i heard. i’m not saying that there should be f-bombs dropped all over the networks’ programming but it was so incidental that it seems like a mountain made out of a molehill.
Well it isn’t barred on DHD, fuck you all very much!
Hmm, I’m sort of a conservative libertarian and I agree with this ruling. Not because I think that the F word should be used in public, but because the law as it was written was too vague to be enforced fairly. I wonder if anyone on BOTH sides actually read the damn article.
I am amused by the leftists (I won’t use the term liberal because they’re not liberal- they’re statists) who scream about conservatives wanting to censor other people’s speech but then tow the Political Correct line. I wonder how many of them would scream bloody murder at the use of a particular word that rhymes with the name of a very popular A. A. Milne character; or maybe a word used to describe the female anatomy that rhymes with hunt? Hypocrisy is a funny tasting pill.
In the end, I don’t have a problem with this ruling. The law was stupidly vague and should be struck down. Personally, I don’t want to turn on my television and hear the hatred and filth coming out of most of Hollywood’s collective mouth. But instead of trying to use the power of government to shut them up, I use the remote control, and my pocketbook.
This is 21st century and you are still debating words? There is such a thing as indecent word? Really?
Fuck is indecent because it has sexual conotations? Funny.
I could copy half of dictionary that could be used in sexual conotation. I guess the only difference is actually imagination. Is it so surprising that those with limited vocabulary and imagination have also limited capacities in general?
And who are they protecting anyway? Kids? How many hours do they watch TV a day (I mean really), where already most of the program is blipped and how much time do they spend on the internet?
Yes, there’s no blip there. So instead of drill baby drill, go with pearl jam’s song… do the evolution baby.
the reasons kids swear is they first heard an adult say it, then the kid repeats it to another kid. plain & simple.
its not like kids are born and just start saying “go fuck yourself”
ya know?
so if kids just start killing each other then we dont consider it wrong? so if everybody does “it”, does that make “it” right?
Many Liberals are good at a lot of things. Yawning at morality. Dismissal and denial of contrary ideas and facts. Elitism. Sanctimonious rhetoric. Reverse discrimination. Just to name a few. I especially love how the Hollywood liberal shoves their communal ethos down the throats of middle America.
Hey Noah,
You mean “yawning at morality” in the sense of starting an unnecessary war and sacrificing thousands of American and foreign lives for the economic benefit of a handful? Or attacking a country who counted 2 of the 9/11 terrorists as citizens while doing business with Saudi Arabia, where the other 19 terrorists came from?
You mean “dismissal and denial of contrary ideas and facts” like “I think Brownie’s doing a heckuva job”? Or having a handful of religious-bred junior aides who have no background whatsoever in scientific method deny and attempt to discredit thousands of peer reviewed papers by thousands of renowned and respected scientists from around the world on climate change?
Do you mean “elitism” like having an Ivy League education and following in your daddy’s footsteps not because you’re qualified but because your entire family has done it for generations and therefore you can too? Or like staffing your entire cabinet with family friends and fellow Ivy Leaguers?
Do you mean “sanctimonious rhetoric” like the terms “Mission Accomplished”, “the Axis of Evil”, “Evil-doers” and “Shock and Awe”? Or like believing you were chosen by the one true Christian God to run the country and redraw the political/economic borders of the entire planet?
Do you mean “reverse discrimination” like having a bunch of old white guys on TV eternally griping about how hard they have it and everyone’s trying to take away their rights and calling it news? Or by creating a “tea party” in which a majority of whites claim their way of life is being trampled by a single black guy in office?
If you don’t like us “Hollywood liberals” making entertainment that embody our personal ethics, get off your ass, get out here and make your own movie, you ignorant fucktard. You can even bring your banjo and second cousin/wife.
By the “the rest of us” you mean kids too, right? Why don’t you go stand in the middle of a park and say F**K as loud as you can over and over. Just tell inform the parents you’re exercising your first amendment and they have no right to impose their morality on you.
Noah: you’re right. We should eliminate the word “fuck” from our collective vocabulary. While we’re at it, any other words you want to ban? Come on, tell us all how we should act, what we can and can’t say. What a great American you are.
Loving this country and the concept of “freedom” means – by definition – that everyone’s going to have to put up with crap they disagree with.
Suck it up, or move somewhere more suited to your ideology… like 1960′s Soviet Union. I hear North Korea’s nice this time of year.