In its challenge to the $550,000 fine levied by the FCC for the infamous 2004 Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction," CBS is telling a federal court it took all kinds of precautions and should not be held
liable. Tiffany Network lawyer Robert Corn-Revere says the company chose Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake over more provocative performers, reviewed the script, cautioned about any ad-libbed
remarks and applied an audio delay. "I think the precautions CBS took even satisfied the FCC's standards," he says.
But FCC lawyer Eric Miller counters that CBS ignored the risk of "a
highly sexualized performance." He notes that Timberlake sang, "Gonna have you naked by the end of this song" -- and that's what, in part, happened. He adds that CBS should have known what it was
going to broadcast and that Jackson's choreographer said in advance that the act would include "some shocking moments."
About 90 million Americans watched the halftime show where
Timberlake pulled off part of Jackson's bustier, briefly exposing a breast. CBS holds that "fleeting, isolated or unintended" images should not necessarily be considered indecent.
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