US:In a major victory for US TV networks, an appeals court has overruled federal regulators who decided that expletives uttered on broadcast television violated decency standards.
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York said the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was "arbitrary and capricious" in setting a new standard for defining indecency. The court sent the matter back to the commission for further proceedings to clarify its indecency policy.
The FCC ruled in March 2006 that News Corp's Fox television network had violated decency rules when singer Cher blurted "f**k" during the 2002 Billboard Music Awards broadcast and when actress Nicole Richie used a variation of that word and "s**t" during the 2003 awards.
No fines were imposed, but Fox had challenged the decision in the appeals court, arguing that the government's decency standard was unclear, violated free speech protections and the rulings had contradicted findings in past cases.
Paul Gallant, an analyst at Stanford Washington Research Group, said the FCC's indecency regulations would likely end up before the high court. "This does seem to have 'Supreme Court' written all over it," he said.
The stakes are high for broadcasters: they could face fines of up to $325,000 (€240,340) per violation.