Indecency, Violence Roil TV Legal Waters

INDECENCY, VIOLENCE ROIL TV LEGAL WATERS
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Michael Berg]
On April 25, the FCC released a landmark report -- “Violent Programming and Its Impact on Children” -- that recommends that Congress use indecency regulation as a basis to enact first-ever limits on TV violence and authorize the FCC to enforce them. But last Monday’s court ruling in Fox v. FCC added to significant concerns about indecency regulation as a model for new violence rules. Striking down parts of the FCC’s recent toughening of it indecency policy, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals found that fines against “fleeting and isolated” indecent words in live programming, and a new FCC definition of profanity, were adopted in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. The APA requires, among other things, that the FCC articulate a rational basis for changing agency precedent, and consistent enforcement that gives adequate notice to potential violators of what is prohibited. The court also noted strong concerns about the constitutionality of the FCC changes, although they were not the basis of the ruling. This column provides a guide to the FCC violence report in light of the indecency ruling.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2007/06/08/daily.4/

* A %$#@ slippery slope on raw talk?
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-indecency11jun11,1,6221658.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business