'Wardrobe Malfunction' Case Bound for Supreme Court

FCC wants its $550,000 fine against CBS reinstated

(NEWSER) - The infamous 2004 Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction may make it all the way to the Supreme Court. The FCC filed an appeal to the high court today, asking it to reconsider a decision by a lower court that threw out a $550,000 fine the FCC levied against CBS, reports Broadcasting & Cable . In the petition, the FCC denies that its penalty was "arbitrary and capricious." More»

Says CBS should have used tape delay to prevent incident

(NEWSER) - Five years after the nation saw a split-second of Janet Jackson’s right boob, the FCC is trying to reopen the case, Broadcasting & Cable reports. The FCC is asking the Third Circuit Appeals Court to remand the case back to the agency. The evidence “strongly suggests that CBS had access to video delay technology,” the commission says, and the decision not to use it was “willful.” More»

(NEWSER) - The Supreme Court today ordered a federal appeals court to consider reinstating a fine against CBS for Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction, the AP reports. The appeals court had ruled that the glimpse of Jackson’s breast, which lasted nine-sixteenths of a second, should have been considered “fleeting,” and hence not eligible for a fine. More»

Fox battles the FCC in next big court case

(NEWSER) - The Supreme Court might take up a gavel in one hand and a bar of soap in the other next term, when it considers a case challenging the FCC’s “fleeting utterances” standards, it announced today. The FCC is appealing a lower-court ruling—which arose when Cher dropped an F-bomb during a 2002 Fox broadcast—that it has failed to “articulate a reasoned basis” for the rules. More»

Broadcasters can't be punished for airing "fleeting expletives"

(NEWSER) - Networks that accidentally air profanity got a major break from a US appeals court yesterday when the court shot down an FCC regulation that punishes them for airing even "fleeting expletives." The court said some of the FCC's indecency rules were "divorced from reality" and sent them back to the agency for clarification. More»