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selfbnd411 -> Oh Crap! FCC Taken to the Woodshed (6/4/2007 9:41:25 PM)
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Notice the jusitification the Bushies gave for why they should be allowed to censor this speech--Uttering "Oh shit!" on TV implies that a person actually just defecated, and therefore a fine is justified because it's indecent! These guys must spend hours thinking this stuff up!
F.C.C. Rebuffed by Court on Indecency Fines
By STEPHEN LABATON
Published: June 5, 2007
WASHINGTON, June 4 β If President Bush and Vice President Cheney can blurt out vulgar language, then the government cannot punish broadcast television stations for broadcasting the same words in similarly fleeting contexts.
That, in essence, was the decision on Monday, when a federal appeals panel struck down the government policy that allows stations and networks to be fined if they broadcast shows containing obscene language.
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Reversing decades of a more lenient policy, the commission had found that the mere utterance of certain words implied that sexual or excretory acts were carried out and therefore violated the indecency rules.
But the judges said vulgar words are just as often used out of frustration or excitement, and not to convey any broader obscene meaning. βIn recent times even the top leaders of our government have used variants of these expletives in a manner that no reasonable person would believe referenced sexual or excretory organs or activities.β
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/05/business/media/05decency.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
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