• by Wayne Friedman , June 1, 2006

The event that started the whole indecency effort is still indecent in the eyes of the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC denied CBS' challenge that the 2004 Janet Jackson Super Bowl half-time incident was not indecent. The FCC levied a $550,000 fine against the CBS stations for airing that incident.

CBS has strongly hinted that the next step was to take the FCC to court. In a release, CBS said: "CBS has apologized to the American people many times for the inappropriate and unexpected half-time incident during the 2004 Super Bowl. We have taken steps to make certain it will never happen again. But we continue to disagree with the FCC's finding that the broadcast was legally indecent."

The FCC said in a statement: The "Commission affirms its finding that CBS' violation was willful, and declines to reduce the forfeiture imposed upon CBS. The Commission rejects CBS' argument that the FCC's indecency framework is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad, both on its face and as applied to the halftime show."

Jackson's costume was ripped away by duet singing partner Justin Timberlake, briefly exposing her breast.

Since Jackson's incident in 2004, the outcry over indecency programming on TV has escalated widely. This has culminated in two current proposed indecency bills--one in the Senate, another in the house. The FCC also increased fines to stations that aired indecent programming--as well as proposing, for the first time, fines to individual performers.