Fox challenges FCC authority over indecency

November 23, 2006 The government's new policy that is punishing broadcasters for a slip of the tongue is killing live television as it allows the FCC to look over producers' shoulders and edit content, the Fox network told a federal appeals court in New York on Wednesday in a key case challenging commission authority over indecent broadcasts. In its brief, the network contends that the FCC is doing "serious violence to the First Amendment" with its policy that finds certain words so vile they are automatically actionable under its indecency rules. While the commission found that the shows violated the broadcast indecency rules it didn't issue a fine, because the shows predated a policy established in 2004 after Bono said wining a Golden Globe was "really, really fucking brilliant."

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