The FCC’s $550,000 malfunction

July 21, 2008

janet.jpgI could go a lot of ways with news that a federal appeals court has thrown out the $550,000 fine leveled by the Federal Communications Commission against CBS for Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction” during the Super Bowl halftime show four years ago. (Quick aside: can you believe that was just four years ago? It feels more like 40 in the age of TMZ and leaked-sex-tape-as-career-advancer.)

But I’m going to stick with part of the case synopsis written by Chief Judge Anthony J. Scirica of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the opinion released today, on the theory that straightforward descriptions are better (and in many cases more entertaining) than prose:

The halftime show featured a variety of musical performances by contemporary recording artists, with Janet Jackson as the announced headlining act and Justin Timberlake as a “surprise guest” for the final minutes of the show. … He and Jackson performed his popular song ‘Rock Your Body’ as the show’s finale. …The performance ended with Timberlake singing, ‘gonna have you naked by the end of this song,’ and simultaneously tearing away part of Jackson’s bustier. … As a result, Jackson’s bare right breast was exposed on camera for nine-sixteenths of one second.

Scirica noted the exposure “caused a sensation,” which is probably an understatement. But he ruled the FCC’s response was an invalid departure from prior policy and unenforceable against CBS, calling the agency’s actions “arbitrary and capricious.”

I hope the appeals court ruling means our nine-sixteenths-of-a-second national nipple nightmare is finally over.

DANNY JACOBS, Legal Affairs Writer

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Posted by The Daily Record | Filed Under fashion, law, sports 

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