'Wardrobe Malfunction' Busts Into Court

Almost 4 years after Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl halftime show, a federal appeals court is being asked to decide whether the incident was indecent or a fluke. The FCC fined CBS $550,000; the network argues the penalty is out of line. It's also having a "deeply censorious effect" on American broadcasting, said a CBS attorney.

The network says the temporary exposure of Jackson's right breast was "unscripted, unauthorized and unintended" and contends the fine amounts to an attack on free speech, because it allows no "breathing space" for the speaker. The FCC counters that CBS was "willful" in its broadcast because it was a "highly sexualized performance" to begin with. (More Janet Jackson stories.)