Maximum Indecency Fine Increased Ten-fold
Yesterday, Congress passed the long-anticipated Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, which if signed into law by President Bush, will increase by a factor of ten the maximum fine available to the FCC for punishing broadcasters for airing material it deems to be indecent. Under the Act, the maximum fine for broadcasting obscene, indecent, and profane material would now be $325,000, up from the present maximum of $32,500. The increase comes over two years after the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show focused Congress’ and the public’s attention on broadcast television.
A copy of the Act is available here, and in pertinent part it reads:
A broadcast station licensee or permittee; or an applicant for any broadcast license, permit, certificate, or other instrument or authorization issued by the Commission [...] determined by the Commission under paragraph (1) to have broadcast obscene, indecent, or profane language, the amount of any forfeiture penalty determined under this subsection shall not exceed $325,000 for each violation or each day of a continuing violation, except that the amount assessed for any continuing violation shall not exceed a total of $3,000,000 for any single act or failure to act.
Recently, the Commission released a number of decisions defending its indecency fines and forging ahead with complaints against broadcast television and radio stations. Davis Wright Tremaine LLP's First Amendment lawyers Ronald G. London and Robert Corn-Revere addressed these recent Commission decisions in detail in an April Advisory Bulletin. If, and when, the increased fines are signed into law, the Commission will likely be quick to begin imposing even higher forfeitures against broadcasters.
President Bush and Congress fail to understand that parents and individuals already have the TV ratings and content-blocking tools to make and enforce TV viewing decisions, both for their children and themselves. This makes government regulation of TV unnecessary and undesirable.
Check out TV Watch, at www.televisionwatch.org, for a common-sense voice of reason in this debate.