BrianGarst.com

An appeals court has ruled against FCC fines for unintentional, “fleeting expletive” use during broadcasts.

Back in January of 2003, upon learning that his band had won the Golden Globe for best original song, U-2 lead singer Bono cut loose with an exuberantly enunciated expletive – a word not normally heard on broadcast television.

The singer’s outburst at the televised awards show was the starting point of a long-running battle over whether profanity should be permitted to air on broadcast stations, and if so, under what circumstances.

Four-plus years later, the issue is far from being resolved.

On Monday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York rejected by a 2-1 vote the Federal Communications Commission’s policy on how it polices indecent speech on the airwaves.

As the government ponders its legal options, the FCC is stuck, unwilling to act on an unending stream of complaints it receives from the viewing and listening public until the legal issues are resolved. In fact, the FCC hasn’t proposed a new fine for indecency since March of 2006.

Among those options: a direct appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, an action urged by the chairman of the Senate committee that oversees the FCC.

Whether or not the decision is legally sound I can’t say, but the outcome is more in line with the principles this country was founded on. Where there is demand for profanity free television, it will be provided by the market. There’s no reason not to leave this issue to the free market, regardless of whether one wants or does not want profanity in television.