Really, Who Cares About Janet Jackson's Breast Anymore?

Well, I am sure the Third Circuit Court of Appeals wishes they could just move past the wardrobe malfunction.

The case is the second recent test of the federal government's powers to regulate broadcast indecency. Last June, a federal appeals court in New York invalidated the government's policy on fleeting profanities uttered over the airwaves.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia will hear arguments about the Feb. 1, 2004 halftime show when 90 million Americans watched singer Justin Timberlake pull off part of Janet Jackson's bustier, briefly exposing one of her breasts. The episode was later explained as a problem with her costume.

The FCC fined CBS Corp. $550,000. CBS challenged the fine, claiming "fleeting, isolated or unintended" images should not automatically be considered indecent. The agency noted it has long held that "even relatively fleeting references may be found indecent where other factors contribute to a finding of patent offensiveness."

While I am all for seeing more decent television, surely there are other issues more pressing when dealing with indencency on the airwaves than a 3.5 year old video of a breast fleetingly on the air.