Brooks Boliek, White House Backs Anti-Smut Bill, Hollywood Reporter, January 29, 2004

In a letter to lawmakers dated Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Donald Evans said the unprecedented increase in fines "will help make broadcast television more suitable for children." Evans told lawmakers that "recent events demonstrate (that) some broadcasters have failed to meet (their) public trust by airing increasingly coarse and at times indecent broadcasts."

Evans' letter marks the first time the administration has taken a position on the issue.

"While it is not the role of government to dictate the content of broadcast programming, existing laws are meant to protect families and children from being inundated with obscene and indecent broadcasts," he wrote. "By increasing the applicable penalties tenfold, the bill you proposed will empower the FCC to punish violations of indecency laws with meaningful fines."

Administration support coupled with a vow by House Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin to put the bill on a fast track makes it more likely that the legislation will become law.

The bill, sponsored by Fred Upton, is garnering co-sponsors as fast as lawmakers can find a pen to sign on. Upton, chairman of the House's telecommunications subcommittee, has introduced legislation that would raise the fine to $275,000 (151,000 pounds) per incident, with a maximum of $3 million.

Broadcast indecency has become a hot issue for the FCC as the "f" word has been uttered on at least two occasions. The FCC's enforcement bureau recently exonerated NBC stations that aired remarks by rock star Bono during the telecast of the 2003 Golden Globes that "this is really, really f---ing brilliant." The bureau said the usage was OK since the word was used as an adjective.

A second occurrence came when TV personality Nicole Richie used it during a Billboard Awards telecast on Fox.

During a hearing on the issue before Upton's panel Wednesday, Tauzin complained that the decision in the Bono case was nonsensical.

"Regardless of how the word's used, it's offensive," he said. "To split hairs whether the word is an adjective or a verb is ridiculous. I strongly urge the FCC to reverse its decision."

The commission is looking at how to do just that but is apparently struggling with how to craft the change. Commission policy up to this point has avoided singling out individual words.

"The bureau made its decision based on precedent stating that the broadcast of a single expletive, including the F-word, was not indecent," FCC enforcement bureau chief David Solomon told the subcommittee. "The chairman (Michael Powell) has now proposed that the commission conclude that the precedents underlying the bureau decision are no longer good law."

If the commission decides to single out individual words, it would face a difficult constitutional test, Robert Corn-Revere, a former FCC staffer and a First Amendment expert told the panel.

"Any use, including a biblical use, of words in that bill would be subject to a violation, regardless of intent," he said.

While L. Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council, wasn't willing to endorse a specific word approach, he argued that the FCC needs to do a better job enforcing the indecency rules.