Senate's Indecent Proposal

In the trade off of tit-for-tat, tat just raised its asking price.

The U.S. Senate unanimously voted to approve a significant increase in broadcast indecency fines late Thursday, increasing the maximum penalty per titillating infraction to a hefty $325,000.

The bill, deemed the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, had been put on the legislation fast track, first coming into fruition after Janet Jackson's nipple shield-baring Super Bowl performance and recently becoming an even more pressing matter after an episode of Without a Trace featured a simulated teen orgy.

"It's time that broadcast indecency fines represent a real economic penalty and not just a slap on the wrist," Kansas' Republican Senator Sam Brownback, the bill's sponsor, said. "Radio and television waves are public property, and the companies who profit from using the public airwaves should face meaningful fines for broadcasting indecency."

The bill, which still needs to pass in the House of Representatives before TV execs are forced to go the Hallmark-channel route, will increase the current indecency fines tenfold.

Which apparently still isn't enough for the Senate's complementary law-making body.

Instead of the approved $325,000 maximum fine, the House last year angled for a $500,000 ceiling, along with the added threat that the FCC would be required to hold a license revocation hearing after a network logged three offenses.

As it stands now, the maximum allowable fine for indecency charges is $32,500.

"We'll work together, and I don't think anything necessarily is a deal-stopper," Michigan Republican Representative Fred Upton said. "I think the prospects are very good that we end up with something that both sides can support."

As expected, the networks and radio stations vehemently oppose any penalty increases, particularly after the four major networks got blasted with millions of dollars of indecency fees in March.

"In areas of programming content, we believe responsible self-regulation by all media companies is preferable to government regulation," National Association of Broadcasters' Dennis Wharton told the Los Angeles Times.

It would certainly be less costly.

Last March, the FCC addressed more than 300,000 backlogged complaints, one of which was a charge against a December 2004 episode of CBS' Without a Trace. The fine-happy watchdogs proposed an unprecedented $3.63 million penalty against 111 Eye network affiliates, with the claim that a simulated teen orgy--lasting less than three minutes--turned the show into nothing more than soft core pornography masquerading as a crime procedural.

CBS said in a statement at the time that it "strongly disagrees" with the finding, claiming the show featured a socially relevant storyline and a "TV 14" parental guideline.

"The program was not unduly graphic or explicit, and we will pursue all remedies necessary to affirm our legal rights, while knowing that millions of Americans give their stamp of approval to Without a Trace each week," the network said.

As a comparison, at his worst, FCC arch-nemesis Howard Stern only incurred $3.5 million for his verbally-graphic on-air shenanigans.

Of course, the infraction to first bear the wrath of the FCC was Jackson's breast-heard-round-the-world.

The network was issued a record $550,000 fine stemming from the September 2004 peep show, and despite appealing the penalty, the agency stuck to its guns, ordering CBS to pony up the original fee.

In the meantime, the Senate has "hotlined" the indecency act, meaning its terms will be automatically approved unless any of the legislators voice their objections prior to adjournment next Thursday.