Second Circuit Strikes Down FCC’s “Fleeting Expletive” Rule

Huzzah!

Broadcasters and free speech wonks scored a major victory today as the Second Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the FCC’s “fleeting expletive” rule for chilling protected speech because the rule was unconstitutionally vauge.  The fleeting expletive prohibition required broadcasters to monitor live broadcasts and censor naughty words or face fines upwards of $300k.  Given the subjective nature of what is obscene, broadcasters often chose to forgo broadcasting controversial live events rather than these risk massive fines or losing their license.

This just in:  A zombie George Carlin was seen dancing in the streets of Manhattan.

We will update this post with a copy of the decision as soon as it is available.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 at 1:29 pm and is filed under misc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to Second Circuit Strikes Down FCC’s “Fleeting Expletive” Rule

  1. Dan Someone says:
    July 14, 2010 at 10:12 am

    Fuck yeah!

  2. Entertainment Law Update Episode 13 – copyrights, trademarks, fair use and net profit suits | CLE-podcasts.com says:
    January 26, 2011 at 8:09 pm

    […] Second Circuit Strikes Down FCC’s “Fleeting Expletive” Rule « The Legal Satyricon […]