We live in a bizarre country: Fox refuses to pay indecency fine

[BurtWorm]

Murdoch the GOP Kingmaker's slimy entertainment network is refusing to pay a fine the kommandants of its demographic installed to placate the puritans among the rank and file. Would anyone but Murdoch have the chutzpah to say fuck you to the Inquisitors at the FCC over a First Amendment issue? Of course money, not principle, is the likely motive, despite the network's claim that stripper-licking was "integral to the storyline." And the sick thing is, in this staring contest, does anyone doubt that the FCC will blink before Fox does? Will this make the ludicrous new standards go away? I think it will all go away after the next election--unless Bush III is selected.

Is this a bizarre country, or what?


http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117982855.html?categoryid=14&cs=1


Fox refuses to pay indecency fine
FCC objects to sexual nature of 'America'

By WILLIAM TRIPLETT

Fox Television is refusing to pay a $91,000 broadcast indecency fine that the Federal Communications Commission slapped on the network for a 2003 episode of its "Married by America" reality show.

...

In 2004, the FCC initially fined 169 Fox stations $7,000 each -- a total of $1.2 million -- for the episode, which included images of contestants licking whipped cream off strippers. Recently, however, the agency reduced the number of stations to 13 and thus the fine to $91,000, saying it would fine stations only in markets from which it had received complaints.

Fox has argued that the material was not statutorily indecent but rather was integral to the storyline.

"We reject Fox's claim," FCC analysts wrote after reviewing videotape. "Even with Fox's editing, the episode includes scenes in which partygoers lick whipped cream from strippers' bodies in a sexually suggestive manner. Another scene features a man on all fours in his underwear as two female strippers playfully spank him. Although the episode electronically obscures any nudity, the sexual nature of the scenes is inescapable, as the strippers attempt to lure partygoers into sexually compromising situations."

...

"Fox believes that the FCC's decision in this case was arbitrary and capricious, inconsistent with precedent and patently unconstitutional," the company's statement said.

...

[panader0]

1. I try to always keep at least 2 or 3 can of Redi-Whip in the fridge

I never know when the strippers will show up.

[Ian David]

2. I'm so conflicted... head... exploding!! n/t

[DCKit]

3. Obviously those prudes at the FCC don't know how delicious strippers are.

Especially when covered in whipped cream.