• Broadcasting & Cable, Tuesday, December 12, 2006 11:46 AM

TV broadcasters, led by Fox, are apt to file their responses to the Federal Communications Commission's defense of its "indecency" enforcement approach this week. The moves will be the latest in a legal set-to in federal appeals court over profanity rulings the FCC issued, then re-issued after broadcasters took them to court, reversing rulings against ABC and CBS and saying the court should drop the case.

The two remaining rulings are against Fox for swearing it allowed by Nicole Richie and Cher on Billboard Awards shows in 2002 and 2003. Last week, the commission defended its indecency enforcement powers, saying it was correct in ruling the broadcasts were indecent and profane and that contemporary community standards for broadcasting don't allow the gratuitous uttering of "the F-Word. and the S-Word."

But one veteran First Amendment attorney who has represented broadcasters on numerous occasions says the FCC's most "questionable" claim is its "claim to be an expert on the views of the American public."

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