Court throws out Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction case, FCC fine

[N2RJ]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2008-07-21-JanetJacksonfinetossed_N.htm

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal appeals court on Monday threw out a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS Corp. for the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show that ended with Janet Jackson's breast-baring "wardrobe malfunction."

The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Communications Commission "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" in issuing the fine for the fleeting image of nudity.

[N2ACX]

Agreed, what the FCC did was a joke,well, not to the participants, but to many of the rest of us. Another fine example how the FCC wastes time and money pursuing total nonsense while the taxpayer foots the bill.
73 N2ACX Gary

[kq9j]

It's about time. It was a stupid action on the FCC's part.

[WB2WIK]

The FCC should be fined for having wasted taxpayer's money on such foolishness.

[n6hle]

The FCC should be fined for having wasted taxpayer's money on such foolishness.

That would make a lot of sense. They'd just tax us more to pay the fine.

[KB9YCO]

Well, better late than never I guess. The problem now is that they need to now overturn all the ridiculous things that the FCC has done since then in instituting their new streamlined censorship campaign. Namely the fact that fines about quadrupled after little Colon Polyp, Jr. and some of his cronies overreacted, and their new and improved brand of censorship is still firmly entrenched. I hope some other challenges to the FCC come up as result of this ruling. The FCC was NEVER meant to control content, that is for 'the people' to decide and their support or lack of the media market. So, it's a good ruling, just a few years late, our bureaucratic government at work!

[N2RJ]

For most of the FCC censorship, you can blame precisely one group for harrassing them into action.

Anyone care to guess who that is?


www.parentstv.org

[k4kyv]

For most of the FCC censorship, you can blame precisely one group for harrassing them into action.

Anyone care to guess who that is?


www.parentstv.org

The incident shocked and offended tens of millions of families who were watching

Those "families" must be pretty insecure if a 1/3-second flash of a partially exposed female breast is all it takes to "shock" and "offend" them, to be that phobic over getting a little "sex" delivered with their violence.

It will be a threat to national security if the "children" make the astounding discovery that woman have breasts!

That's two down in a row for the FCC, which is still smarting from losing the BPL case.

[kq9j]

The real exposure in this case was the exposure of the BIG boobs at the FCC!!

[KB1KIX]

For most of the FCC censorship, you can blame precisely one group for harrassing them into action.

Anyone care to guess who that is?


www.parentstv.org


That, and I recall a church organization that was going nuts and calling the FCC like crazy until something was done about the "incident".

I saw an interview with the church members way back when... but that was quite awhile ago.

Jonathan

[wa8rti]

I love the George Carlin bit about the boob incident. He said, "'people are complaining 'how were they going to explain that expose boob to their kids?'" Then he added, 'how did they explain the superbowl ad that talked about having a 4 hour erection?"

[WB2WIK]

I thought the Timberlake/Jackson duet was great.

I enjoyed Janet's "exposure," thought it was cute and may help lay the foundation for less puritanical television on public broadcast in America, where we are decades behind most places.

You should see what's on public TV in Germany...or many other places...even Japan. Americans should be ashamed of ourselves for being such nitwits.

Thankfully we still have some public nude beaches here, and they're very much "family" places with great picnics, volleyball, etc. I don't participate but I'm happy they exist for those who wish to.

My niece from Munich visited us not long ago and didn't have any bathing suit "tops" with her, since they charge extra for those and nobody wears them in Germany. She was astonished there was a problem with that in Santa Monica.

America's the land of the free but heavily taxed, and the home of the puritan. Maybe one day it will change.

[NR7J]

I thought the Timberlake/Jackson duet was great.

I enjoyed Janet's "exposure," thought it was cute and may help lay the foundation for less puritanical television on public broadcast in America, where we are decades behind most places.

You should see what's on public TV in Germany...or many other places...even Japan. Americans should be ashamed of ourselves for being such nitwits.

Thankfully we still have some public nude beaches here, and they're very much "family" places with great picnics, volleyball, etc. I don't participate but I'm happy they exist for those who wish to.

My niece from Munich visited us not long ago and didn't have any bathing suit "tops" with her, since they charge extra for those and nobody wears them in Germany. She was astonished there was a problem with that in Santa Monica.

America's the land of the free but heavily taxed, and the home of the puritan. Maybe one day it will change.


I agree 100% with everything you said but you forgot to mention that we have more rapist and child molesters than any other country in the world.
See how stupid we are, we made a big deal for one boob but we let the rapist and child molesters roam free.
(I love Italian TV commercials.)

[WB2WIK]

I agree 100% with everything you said but you forgot to mention that we have more rapist and child molesters than any other country in the world.
See how stupid we are, we made a big deal for one boob but we let the rapist and child molesters roam free.
(I love Italian TV commercials.)

"We" don't really let them roam free. We have a difficult prosecution system that demands more proof than most. In some places, a kid saying "yes, he did it to me!" would be enough to behead somebody. Not here, and maybe that's a good thing.

Civility demands protocol and we have a tough one.

The old "rapist" thing has a lot of spins, some of them have been here. If the guy is 18 and his girlfriend is 17-1/2...and five years later they get married and live happily ever after for the next 40 years...he is still guilty of statutory rape, right?

That's one of the problems with "black and white" laws.

WB2WIK/6

[N2RJ]

Why are we worried about a child seeing an exposed female breast?

I'm sure if a kid saw a large, exposed breast, they aren't thinking sex, they're probably thinking "I can feed on that thing for a week!"

[N2RJ]

Those "families" must be pretty insecure if a 1/3-second flash of a partially exposed female breast is all it takes to "shock" and "offend" them, to be that phobic over getting a little "sex" delivered with their violence.

It will be a threat to national security if the "children" make the astounding discovery that woman have breasts!

That's two down in a row for the FCC, which is still smarting from losing the BPL case.

Oh yes, this one was the killer:

Activist judges across the country are making a mockery of Federal Broadcast Decency laws.

Them dang activist judges and their dang activist constitution!! Just who do they think they are?

[kf4vgx]

Why are we worried about a child seeing an exposed female breast?

I'm sure if a kid saw a large, exposed breast, they aren't thinking sex, they're probably thinking "I can feed on that thing for a week!"

................



There in lies the problem, some men are thinking the same thing:rolleyes:.
But not me, No sir E Bob ,not me.
Well at least not for a week .;)

[AC4BB]

Maybe,since this is over the FCC will have some time to go after all the Scofflaws that have been showing up on 10 meter AM lately.???

[w2amr]

The FCC was pandering to a bunch of religious kooks. Hopefully this will start a trend.

[w2amr]

Maybe,since this is over the FCC will have some time to go after all the Scofflaws that have been showing up on 10 meter AM lately.???
Freebanders? They usually don't go that high , do they?

[W4HAY]

Judiciary: A federal court has overturned the Federal Communications Commission's fine against CBS for broadcasting nudity during its 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. Airwaves can't be policed without weapons...

...Broadcasters can easily fulfill their responsibilities regarding decency during live transmissions. A delay of a few seconds lets watchful producers press a button that can switch cameras or cut to a commercial. If networks are not punished for failing to do this, the violations will continue.

A Disarmed FCC (http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=301532515314639)

http://garywolff.com/janet_ball.jpg

[WA6MHZ]

"We" don't really let them roam free. We have a difficult prosecution system that demands more proof than most. In some places, a kid saying "yes, he did it to me!" would be enough to behead somebody. Not here, and maybe that's a good thing.



WB2WIK/6

Yes it is a good thing. Because now, Mad Ex-wives are conning their kids into telling CPS "DADDY TOUCHED ME" so they can get revenge against the Dads. Kids who get spanked or grounded for something go to school and tell the teacher "DAD MOLESTED ME" to get them in big trouble. How many men are rotting in jail because of the LIES of children and their moms who want to torpedo Dad for good? There is no way to prove innocence, and a Dad is declared guilty just because of what a kid might say. Nothing bad ever occured, but Dad goes to Jail nevertheless. So it is good that there is atleast some checks and balances to allow Dad to defend himself against these Mean Spouses and kids. But even still, many are unjustly prosecuted and locked up.

[k4kyv]

There have been reports of caseworkers dreaming up a molestation story and planting it into the kid's mind, convincing the kid that it really happened years earlier, and then coaching the kid on exactly how to describe it to authorities. It is difficult for the adult to defend himself against that kind of accusation.