WASHINGTON -- Pixilation is no excuse when it comes to federal indecency laws as the FCC said Tuesday that it wants to fine Fox Broadcasting Co. and most of its affiliates nearly $1.2 million for an episode of its reality series "Married by America."

The FCC proposed the fine for an April 7, 2003, program that includes scenes of Las Vegas bachelor and bachelorette parties featuring strippers and partyers in sexual situations, including scenes where a pair of strippers "playfully spank" a man in his underwear and partygoers lick whipped cream off the strippers' bodies. The FCC issued the record "notice of apparent liability" even though the strippers' bare breasts and other body parts were pixilated.

"Although the episode electronically obscures any nudity, the sexual nature of the scenes is inescapable as the strippers attempt to lure partygoers into sexually compromising situations," the commission wrote. "Accordingly, we conclude that the broadcast satisfies the first prong of our indecency analysis."

Following that broadcast, the commission received 159 complaints alleging that the episode contained indecent material.

After an investigation, the FCC decided to impose a $7,000 fine against the 169 Fox TV stations that aired the program. Fox has 30 days to appeal the fines, which total $1.18 million.

Fox said the FCC erred in its interpretation.

"We disagree with the FCC's decision and believe that the content was not indecent," the company said in a statement.

Federal law bars radio and broadcast television stations from airing references to "patently offensive" sexual or excretory functions and organs as measured by community standards between 6 a.m.-10 p.m. if they appear to pander or are used to titillate or shock. Indecent material can be aired between 10 p.m.-6 a.m. because few children are in the audience.

The FCC has stepped up enforcement of the statute in recent years as complaints mounted about a coarsening of public airwaves. Critics, notably radio host Howard Stern, say the FCC is seeking to stifle free speech.

Last month the FCC fined CBS $550,000 for Janet Jackson's Super Bowl halftime performance, during which one of the singer's breasts was briefly exposed.

While the commission refused to fine CBS' affiliates for the "wardrobe malfunction," saying they did not know what was coming, it proposed fining Fox affiliates that aired the "Married" episode because it was taped. Affiliates could have refused to air the show, the FCC said.

"In (the CBS) case, we concluded that the affiliates 'could not have reasonably anticipated that the CBS Network production of a prestigious national event such as the Super Bowl would contain material that included the on-camera exposure of Ms. Jackson's breast,' " the commission wrote. "This program, in contrast, was a taped episode in a taped series, and the affiliates could have pre-empted it, as at least one affiliate did."

Capitol Broadcasting Co. refused to air the show on WRAZ-TV in Raleigh, N.C. The broadcaster "decided that the program did not reflect prevailing standards of good taste and that the show was clearly demeaning to the institution of marriage," according to a press release issued by the company.