Court overturns "wardrobe malfunction" fine

Do you remember the absurd $550,000 fine which the FCC imposed on CBS for a fleetingly exposed nipple during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime entertainment? The "net neutrality" crowd doesn't; Kevin Martin is their hero, and they want him to have lots of power because he'll use it only to make ISP's play fair. But he declared he was "disappointed for families and parents" when a federal appeals court tossed the fine out.

According to the article, "The court said the FCC deviated from its nearly 30-year practice of fining indecent broadcast programming only when it was so "pervasive as to amount to 'shock treatment' for the audience."

Government agencies keep gaining power because people with divergent goals all believe the agencies will carry out their agenda. The left wants the FCC to have the power to enforce "net neutrality"; the right wants it to have the power to enforce "decency." It gets both and everyone complains, but then they start another round of ratcheting up power.

If people ever figure out that handing power over their lives to governmental authority is a bad move, the politicians' and bureaucrats' game is doomed. But that won't happen soon.