Supreme Court tosses FCC penalties

WASHINGTON -- Broadcasters anticipating a major constitutional ruling on the government's authority to regulate what can be shown and said on the airwaves instead won only the smallest of Supreme Court victories yesterday.

The justices unanimously threw out fines and other penalties against Fox and ABC television stations that violated the Federal Communications Commission policy on curse words and nudity on television.

Forgoing a broader constitutional ruling, the court concluded only that broadcasters could not have known in advance that obscenities uttered during awards show programs on Fox stations and a brief display of nudity on an episode of ABC's "NYPD Blue" could give rise to penalties. ABC and 45 affiliates had been hit with proposed fines totaling nearly $1.24 million.

Broadcasters argued the revolution in technology that has brought the Internet, satellite TV and cable has made the rules obsolete. The rules apply only to broadcast channels.

FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said the ruling "appears to be narrowly limited to procedural issues related to actions taken a number of years ago. Consistent with vital First Amendment principles, the FCC will carry out Congress' directive to protect young TV viewers."

The case arose from a change in the FCC's long-standing policy on curse words. For many years, the agency did not take action against broadcasters for one-time uses of curses. But after several awards shows with cursing celebrities in 2002 and 2003, the FCC toughened its policy, concluding a one-free-expletive rule did not make sense in the context of keeping the airwaves free of indecency when children are likely to be watching television.