It's hard to imagine that regulators are still fretting over Janet Jackson's naked nipple more than three years later, but somehow this contretemps is still working its way through the courts.
According to The New York Times, CBS (NYSE: CBS) has asked a three-judge panel in a federal court to reverse a $550,000 fine levied on the company by the Federal Communications Commission for broadcast indecency. A lawyer for the company argued that CBS had taken steps prior to that 2004 Super Bowl to install an audio delay system to allow for the blocking of profanity, but did not yet have visual equipment set up to do the same thing.
Michael K. Powell, the FCC Chairman at the time of the stunt, had said that he and his family were outraged by the ""classless, crass and deplorable stunt."
Oh please! Janet Jackson's nipple was on television for half a second. We have daily coverage of violence on the evening news, often with graphic pictures of bloody corpses. We have exhaustive coverage of Larry Craig's footsie-playing in public restrooms, and there's even a reality show version of Lord of the Flies.
And we're still talking about Janet Jackson's nipple. CBS appears to be appealing the decision on purely symbolic grounds. The $550,000 fine is in no way material to such a large company, but they're standing up for some kind of principle, however obscure. That's a rarity in business these days.
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