According to the FCC, if someone uses the 'F-word' or the 'S-word' during a show that resembles even faintly a news show, the network will not be held responsible for breaking the decency rules. On the other hand, if this comes to happen during other programs, such as television series or live awards, there will be hell to pay.

Late last night, the Federal Communications Commission backtracked on a March ruling that made the term 'bullshitter', used on the CBS's 'The Early Show', indecent. Because the word was used by one of the contestants of the CBS's 'Survivor Vanuatu' during a live interview that bore the resemblance of a news interview, the FCC ruled that the network should be given some leniency.

At the opposite pole was the situation of ABC's 'NYPD Blue' and Fox's 'Billboard Music Awards' in 2002 and 2003, which are still considered as having violated the decency law for using variants of 'f**k' and 's**t' in various occasions. The two networks in question immediately responded to the ruling, saying that the matter will certainly go to court for being an arbitrary violation of constitutional free speech rights.

The FCC Chairman Kevin Martin stands by the Commission's decision: 'Hollywood continues to argue they should be able to say the F-word on television whenever they want. Today, the commission again disagrees'.