Last Monday, during his monologue on the Late Show, Stephen Colbert made a number of jokes at President Donald Trump’s expense, including lobbing a series of insults at the President. (The full monologue is available here; check around 11:15 for the portion that has gotten folks talking). One of these insults, which included a joking … Continue Reading
You may want to strap yourself in for this one – to avoid the intellectual whiplash that might otherwise result. Every year, the National Recording Preservation Board – a federal organization comprised of esteemed composers, musicians, musicologists, librarians, archivists, and representatives of the recording industry – undertakes a duty assigned to it by our elected … Continue Reading
The Commission has fined a TV licensee a whopping $325,000 for a single three-second instance of unintended indecency during a newscast. It looks like the FCC wants to send a signal to broadcasters.… Continue Reading
Something - it's hard to say exactly what - recently occurred on the indecency front. It had to do with alleged indecency on a Spanish-language TV station.… Continue Reading
If you're champing at the bit to toss in your two cents' worth on the FCC's indecency policy (whatever that policy may be), you now have a little more time within which to hone your prose.… Continue Reading
If you feel like commenting on the FCC's "egregious cases" indecency policy, the deadlines for comments have been set. Now all we need to know is what, exactly, is the FCC's "egregious cases policy" we're supposed to be commenting on . . .… Continue Reading
In a public notice that surely ranks among the most bizarre any of us are likely to see, the FCC's Enforcement Bureau and General Counsel have made three startling announcements about the Commission's broadcast indecency policy.… Continue Reading
The Janet Jackson case is, for all intents and purposes, finished. But, as has been customary with just about everything surrounding L'Affaire Jackson, even the Supreme Court's final order included some unexpected flair.… Continue Reading
You've read his stuff, and you've probably wondered - who is this man of mystery they call the Swami? Now you can hear him and see him expounding (with customary eloquence) about the Supreme Court's latest decision on broadcast indecency.… Continue Reading
For some insight into what the Court's recent decision on indecency means going forward, we called on the Swami, Kevin Goldberg. Not surprisingly, he had some thoughts.… Continue Reading
The Supreme Court has sent the Fox and NYPD Blue cases back down to the Second Circuit. While that might sound like bad news for broadcasters, that's not necessarily the case. In fact, Fox and ABC can clearly view this decision as a significant victory.… Continue Reading
On January 10, the Swami and the Blogmeister took a field trip to the Supreme Court to catch the Fox/ABC indecency argument. Here's their report.… Continue Reading
In a long-awaited if anticlimactic decision, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has again sided with CBS in its fight with the FCC over the 2004 Super Bowl® half-time show.… Continue Reading
Do the Supreme Court opinions in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association shed light on likely outcome of FCC v. Fox Television Stations indecency case next term? The Swami thinks so.… Continue Reading
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Fox and NYPD Blue cases next term -- and the constitutionality of the FCC's indecency regime will be the only issue on the docket.… Continue Reading
Like a hard-core poker player on a losing streak, the Commission isn't going to let a recent string of defeats discourage it. Au contraire, the FCC's going double-or-nothing: it has asked the Supreme Court to review the Second Circuit's 2010 indecency decisions in the Fox and NYPD Blue cases.… Continue Reading
Some have questioned whether Spanish-language broadcasters get a pass when it comes to enforcement of the FCC's indecency rules. A complaint against an LA-area TV station has raised that question again.… Continue Reading
After the Second Circuit declared the FCC's indecency policy unconstitutional,the FCC had only three options if it wanted to fight to defend its indecency regime. It has now made its choice.… Continue Reading
In response to a surge of reader interest in his prognostications, Kevin Goldberg has agreed to give us a look-see into Kevin's Krystal Ball for a prediction of how the Supreme Court may vote if the Second Circuit's recent indecency decision in Fox goes back up.… Continue Reading
Now that the initial hoopla attendant to the release of the Second Circuit's Fox decision has quieted down, let's take a gander at legal scenarios that might be in store for us on the indecency front.… Continue Reading
In a huge win for broadcasters and First Amendment-loving citizens, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has struck down the FCC's indecency policy.… Continue Reading
Grab your rod, bait your hook, put on your floaties - and don't forget the sunscreen - it looks like we're all going on an indecency fishing expedition, thanks to the FCC's Enforcement Bureau!… Continue Reading