(Associated Press via NewsEdge) US federal appeals judges challenged a government lawyer over the Federal Communications Commission's tough new policy against accidental use of profanities in broadcasts.
Amid legal arguments that sometimes included the "F-word" itself, a three-judge appeals court panel took a skeptical attitude toward what Fox Television Stations said was the FCC's radical expansion of its authority to severely punish what it cites as indecent speech.
The judges did not immediately issue a ruling.
At a minimum, at stake was the FCC's finding of indecency in two broadcasts of the Billboard Music Awards: the 2002 show in which Cher used a profanity, and the 2003 show in which reality TV star Nicole Richie did the same while telling a story about a Prada purse.
Also discussed during the arguments was NBC's 2003 broadcast of the Golden Globes awards show when singer Bono uttered an obscenity.
Broadcasters are fighting the FCC conclusion that the broadcasts were indecent, even though no fines were issued. The FCC said the 'F-word' in any context 'inherently has a sexual connotation' and can be subject to enforcement action.
The government lawyer defending the FCC policy, Eric D. Miller, surprised some broadcasters when he said news programs covering the hearing could disseminate quotations with the "F-word," even the stars' comments themselves, without FCC penalty.
Use of the otherwise indecent words in a news program, he said, would not meet the legal standard for barring them, which requires they be used to pander, to titillate or for shock value.
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