Court deals serious blow to FCC expletive policy
By Kara Rowland
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
June 5, 2007

Broadcasters scored a major victory yesterday when a federal court invalidated a Federal Communications Commission indecency ruling against Fox Television, calling the regulator's policy of punishing "fleeting expletives" "arbitrary and capricious."

The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York ruled the FCC did not "articulate a reasoned basis for this change in policy" when it began penalizing broadcasters in 2004 for accidentally airing expletives.

The case stems from two broadcasts of the Billboard Music Awards on Fox. In the 2002 show, Cher lashed out at critics, saying: "[Expletive] 'em." The next year, Nicole Richie said: "Have you ever tried to get cow [dung] out of a Prada purse? It's not so [expletive] simple." the rest