Court throws out FCC penalties for cursing, nudity

[Locutus]

By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Broadcasters anticipating a major constitutional ruling on the government's authority to regulate what can be shown and said on the airwaves instead won only the smallest of Supreme Court victories Thursday.
The justices unanimously threw out fines and other penalties against Fox and ABC television stations that violated the Federal Communications Commission policy regulating curse words and nudity on television airwaves.


Forgoing a broader constitutional ruling, however, the court concluded only that broadcasters could not have known in advance that obscenities uttered during awards show programs on Fox stations and a brief display of nudity on an episode of ABC's "NYPD Blue" could give rise to penalties. ABC and 45 affiliates had been hit with proposed fines totaling nearly $1.24 million.




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Tits or GTFO man.

 

[DurkaDurka]

I don't get US network TV or Canadian for that matter. Ultra violence is ok but uttering a swear word or showing a boob is mortal sin?

 

[TenPenny]

I don't get US network TV or Canadian for that matter. Ultra violence is ok but uttering a swear word or showing a boob is mortal sin?

Yeah, I can't figure out why it's okay to show someone being hacked apart, but a nipple at the superbowl was a national crisis.

 

[gopher]

Bureaucrats love to get their faces on TV and their news in news print. Their fines and other abuses should have been stopped a long time ago. And, as was pointed above, they need to be consistent in the application of their rules.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Oh no, America is doomed. US TV will finally be allowed to use language and show images that was the norm on TV in Australia and many other nations in the 1970s.

The ban on curse words was quite ridiculous; in fact it had the opposite of what it was supposed to achieve, leading to numerous bleeps and sound effects that simply drew attention to the fact that so called foul language was being used.

 

[EagleSmack]

I don't get US network TV or Canadian for that matter. Ultra violence is ok but uttering a swear word or showing a boob is mortal sin?

Don't forget that these fines generated a lot of $$$ for the FCC. Another useless government entity that needs to go.

Oh no, America is doomed. US TV will finally be allowed to use language and show images that was the norm on TV in Australia and many other nations in the 1970s.

The ban on curse words was quite ridiculous; in fact it had the opposite of what it was supposed to achieve, leading to numerous bleeps and sound effects that simply drew attention to the fact that so called foul language was being used.

Are they allowed to say F*** on Canadian TV?

 

[lone wolf]

Don't forget that these fines generated a lot of $$$ for the FCC. Another useless government entity that needs to go.



Are they allowed to say F*** on Canadian TV?

Ever seen Trailer Park Boys?

 

[EagleSmack]

Ever seen Trailer Park Boys?

No. I take it that you can use the F word then? I was just curious. I know I've seen South Park on cable after hours and it isn't censored.

 

[lone wolf]

I've heard the F-bomb on the TV news - usually preceded by a warning to sensitive ears

 

[gopher]

Ever seen Trailer Park Boys?

I was just watching a re-play of the episode in which Conky got croaked.

-------------------------

Government bureaucrats need to understand that it is the people who should have control of the airwaves. Certain words/deeds or whatever are or may be a necessary part of artistic or political expression. On that basis the government is or should be restricted as to what it may determine to be socially acceptable. Let the people decide, not the bureaucrats.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Don't forget that these fines generated a lot of $$$ for the FCC. Another useless government entity that needs to go.



Are they allowed to say F*** on Canadian TV?

The four letter word for copulate? - yes. For at least the last two or three decades. Most frequently on the national news broadcasts.

 

[damngrumpy]

As I understand it, cable channels that can be controlled can at certain times use foul language.
In Canada it is more relaxed it seems but sometimes there is hell to pay. I think the F word got
attention as a result of the Fuddle Duddle incident with Trudeau. Anyone ever see the uncensored
version of that discussion? I assure you he did not say Fuddle Duddle.
This whole thing is nonsense go to a games arcade and you will hear language you never hear
before from young teens. No it does not mean its alright it just means we have to face reality.