Justice Department Sues Fox Over Failure To Pay Indecency Fines
from the the-definition-of-indecency dept
Remember how Fox was simply refusing to pay an indecency fine issued by the FCC? Well, it appears that the FCC isn't too happy about that and has had the Justice Department file some lawsuits against the various Fox affiliates refusing to pay (it turns out a few affiliates did pay). Before filing the lawsuits, the FCC rejected Fox's appeal without comment, but merely by saying that Fox's appeal to the FCC was 14 pages too long and the company hadn't asked permission to exceed the limit. Fox called this response "offensive," apparently resisting the more hilarious option of calling it "indecent." In the meantime, it looks like Fox will have yet another indecency case to fight in court to go along with the Supreme Court case on indecency that also involves Fox.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: fcc, fines, indecency
Companies: fcc, fox, news corp
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Interesting ...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Nope...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Nope...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Nope...
And those rules are fairly ambiguous, so it's not entirely clear what constitutes a violation of the rules. The definition of what is 'indecent' changes on a case by case basis, which is why the FCC is currently involved in a lawsuit over the matter.
They should try being a little less "offensive".
As soon as what constitutes "offensive material" is actually defined, they might have some idea of what they can air.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
well
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
decency
I find this completely offensive and would be horrified in my kids saw this material.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: decency
Right now the FCC censorship doesn't totally extend to non-broadcast stations. Though, I believe they're trying to change that.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Go Fox
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Money Well Spent
Yes I did think if the children and I came to the conclusion I don't care. All the world needs is more scared shitless mama's boys/girls who have no mind or backbone which is exactly what we will have if we continue to shelter them from life.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Offensive is an opinion...
My youngest child is too young to eat steak, but you don't see me lobbying for formula-only diets for everyone. That's just as absurd as limiting my reading material or television options.
If people don't want to see it, don't want it. Nobody forced you to buy a television, or to turn it to that channel and watch it.
I would be pretty upset if my kids saw a Girls Gone Wild commercial... but at myself for not monitering thier viewing activities closely enough.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Semprini
Are we on the air?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]