WASHINGTON, DC — In spite of the fact that a panel of U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit cast aside Federal Communication (FCC) penalties for fleeting or single use of the infamous “F-word” (aka “Fuck”), Senator John D. Rockefeller (D-W. VA) has introduced legislation that would reverse that.Rockefeller’s bill would grant the FCC the right to fine television stations for brief or unintended uses of words like “fuck” and others deemed profane. According to Senate Commerce Committee chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI), the bill will pass before the Senate panel next Thursday.
With FCC indecency fines reaching peaks of $325,000 per offense, the bill could have great impact upon broadcasters, although it will likely please FCC chairman Kevin Martin, who has been clear about his frustration with Congress for not supporting his efforts to vigorously scour the free and cable airwaves of content he and his supports deem inappropriate.
Ironically, Rockefeller’s bill was introduce on the same afternoon that similar proposed legislation was presented by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) as an amendment before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Brownback’s amendment went down in flames after a voice vote, although its goals were the same. Although some senators claimed to agree with Brownback, they indicated that they chose to show solidarity to a tradition of not adding federal agency rules and regulations to spending bills.
A spokesman for Rockefeller indicated that the senator would follow his anti-indecency bill up “soon” with another focusing on television violence.
