FCC Accepting Additional Indecency Comments

The FCC is taking comments from the public for two weeks regarding four TV indecency cases sent back to the commission by a federal appeals court.
In an earlier Omnibus Order a number of indecency complaints pending against TV broadcasters based on programs aired between February 2002 and March 2005 were resolved. However in one portion, the agency found that episodes of four television programs – NYPD Blue, The Early Show, 2002 Billboard Music Awards, and 2003 Billboard Music Awards – aired by certain stations apparently violated the indecency rules.
The FCC did not propose a fine and said it would not use the findings as a basis for taking adverse action against the licensees, such as considering the findings in the license renewal process.
Fox, CBS, ABC and Hearst-Argyle asked an appeals court to review the case.
Several parties told the court they didn’t have enough time to get the agency’s attention before a decision was made, hence the extra filing period.
Comments on (DA 06-1739) are due Sept. 21.