F*** the FCC, say the courts
From AP: An appeals court said a new federal policy against accidentally aired profanities on TV and radio was invalid, noting that vulgar language had become so common that even President Bush has been heard using expletives.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday in favor of a Fox Television-led challenge to the policy and returned the case to the Federal Communications Commission to let the agency try to explain how its policy was not "arbitrary and capricious." The court said it doubted the FCC could.The broadcasters had asked the appeals court last year to invalidate the FCC’s conclusion that profanity-laced broadcasts on four shows were indecent, even though no fines were issued. The FCC said the "F-word" in any context "inherently has a sexual connotation" and can be subject to enforcement action.
The appeals court said some of the FCC’s explanations for its new policy, reversing a more lenient policy in place for nearly three decades, were "divorced from reality." The court noted that even President Bush was heard one day telling British Prime Minister Tony Blair that the United Nations needed to "get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s—."
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told The Associated Press that the ruling will make it difficult to impose fines for indecency. "Practically, this makes it difficult to go forward on a lot of the cases that are in front of us," he said. An appeal was being considered, he said.
The FCC found its ban was violated by a Dec. 9, 2002, broadcast of the Billboard Music Awards in which singer Cher used the phrase "F— ’em" and a Dec. 10, 2003, Billboard awards show in which reality show star Nicole Richie said, "Have you ever tried to get cow s— out of a Prada purse? It’s not so f—— simple."
In a majority opinion written by Judge Rosemary Pooler, the appeals court questioned whether the FCC’s indecency test could survive First Amendment scrutiny. "We are sympathetic to the networks’ contention that the FCC’s indecency test is undefined, indiscernible, inconsistent and consequently unconstitutionally vague," she wrote.
Fox Broadcasting praised the ruling, saying "government regulation of content serves no purpose other than to chill artistic expression in violation of the First Amendment." It said viewers can decide appropriate viewing content for themselves, using parental control technologies.
The new policy was put in place after a January 2003 NBC broadcast of the Golden Globes awards show, in which U2 lead singer Bono uttered the phrase "f—— brilliant."
FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps said the decision was disappointing to him and millions of parents but "doesn’t change the FCC’s legal obligation to enforce the indecency statute." "So any broadcaster who sees this decision as a green light to send more gratuitous sex and violence into our homes would be making a huge mistake," Copps said. "The FCC has a duty to find a way to breathe life into the laws that protect our kids."
Why do we mention this? Well, we’re all really big First Amendment types over here at ComicMix, and Thursday is the 36th anniversary of Cohen vs. California, the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Paul Cohen’s conviction for wearing a jacket that read "F— the Draft", but mainly it’s a great excuse to run this:
Thirty years ago today, the first Apple II went on sale at the West Coast Computer Faire.
For all those people who’ve been wondering what BookExpo was like (assuming you haven’t already read 
For those of you can’t get a decent morning’s sleep on Sunday morning becasue they are plagued by early morning zealots, but find that it’s a bit much to invoke Cthulhu early in the day, Home On The Strange has now provided you with a new way to deal with them, 
One of the most hard-charging bloggers around, 
On this day in 1912, Carl Laemmle merged his movie studio, the Independent Moving Picture Company (IMP), with eight others, creating Hollywood’s first major studio, the Universal Film Manufacturing Company — later to become Universal Pictures Company. Universal would unintentionally give gigantic starts to other film companies, like not paying Irving Thalberg enough money to keep him from being lured away to MGM, or by refusing to pay a decent production fee to produce cartoons starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to a young up-and-comer named Walt Disney.
…Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play. 
