CBS v. FCC On Indecency Enforcement

CBS and the Federal Communications Commission took aim at each other's arguments in filings to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in advance of new oral argument this month in the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake Super Bowl reveal case.

In its filing, CBS had a few choice words for the FCC, saying it was attempting to "rewrite history" with a "revisionist spin" on its fleeting indecency policy in arguments CBS said included "false claims" and "incomplete and misleading" discussion. The FCC called CBS' arguments "untenable" and accused it of "leaps of illogic." Nothing in the Supreme Court's decision upholding the FCC's defense of its fleeting profanity policy changes the Third Circuit's decision in the Super Bowl case that the commission had abandoned a three-decades-old policy on fleeting words and images. That was CBS's advice to the Third Circuit, which is preparing to re-hear the Jackson case Feb. 23. CBS was fined $550,000 for the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show incident. The Third Circuit last month asked both CBS and the FCC to weigh in on what affect the Supreme Court decision in Fox vs. FCC (swearing by Cher and Nicole Richie on the Billboard Awards) should have on its rethinking of the Jackson decision.