Broadcasters Want Supreme Court to Bring Certainty to Indecency Rules

At long last, the television business may finally get some clarity on the Federal Communications Commission's updated indecency rules, which have kept the networks -- and the regulator itself -- tied up in knots since 2004. Anything has to be better than the perpetually confusing status quo, in which Saving Private Ryan, which included lots of soldiers swearing in the heat of battle, was OK, but The Blues -- a documentary that Martin Scorsese produced for PBS which included a few obscenities -- was not, and no one could figure out why a single F-bomb that no one saw coming was indecent. Consensus opinion is that the Supreme Court is likely to review two Second Circuit Court of Appeals decisions in cases involving Fox and ABC. And that could be good for both the FCC and broadcasters.

"The networks would welcome some clarity. Right now you have the Second Circuit saying the [fleeting expletive rule] is unconstitutional. But if you're in other jurisdictions, that doesn't help you," said Scott Flick, a partner with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, who has represented several broadcast stations and networks and is the former Washington counsel for Univision Communications.