CBS has said that it investigated the incident and found that no one at CBS, MTV or Viacom knew what Timberlake planned to do. The network also has apologized.
In July, the FCC's enforcement bureau judged that Jackson's brief exposure violated the agency's decency rules, which prohibit networks from broadcasting sexual or scatological content between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children are most likely to be watching.
Justin Timberlake prepares to tear off part of Janet Jackson's costume at their Super Bowl halftime show.
(Pierre Ducharme -- Reuters)
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The maximum allowable fine for violating the standards is $27,500. However, bills pending in each house of Congress would allow the FCC to fine broadcasters up to $500,000. Further, the FCC has begun levying fines for each instance of indecency within a broadcast, rather than one fine per broadcast.
FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell took the unusual step of personally launching an indecency investigation on the day after the Super Bowl. The FCC's enforcement bureau took up the case and concluded the investigation faster than usual.
The enforcement bureau said it did not fine the CBS affiliates because they had no control over the production of the halftime show and no knowledge it would contain racy material.
The Super Bowl incident was the best known of a number of offensive radio and television broadcasts during the past two years that have spurred outrage from viewers and action from lawmakers.
Radio giant Clear Channel Communications Inc. paid $1.75 million to erase all pending FCC indecency charges, including some against Howard Stern, whose show was pulled from Clear Channel stations in February. Last month, radio and television broadcaster Emmis Communications Corp. paid $300,000 to settle similar charges.
The enforcement bureau is expected to rule soon on a December 2003 Fox awards program during which actress Nicole Richie used two expletives. In March, the agency ruled that an on-air profanity uttered on NBC by U2 frontman Bono was both indecent and profane, though it did not fine the network. In April, a group of radio and television broadcasters and performers urged the FCC to reverse that ruling, fearing a chilling effect on free speech.
