The Federal Communications Commission found itself on the ropes Monday, as a federal court tossed out what it deemed to be "arbitrary and capricious" indecency rulings leveled by the F.C.C. against News Corporation's Fox Television.

In a 2–1 vote, the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a pair of 2006 decisions against Fox represented a substantial departure from the F.C.C.'s historical policy, without a suitable basis for a change in that policy.

Daily Variety reports that the New York-based appeals court not only faulted the F.C.C. for failure to provide a reasonable basis for the new regulations, but raised doubts as to the constitutionality of the F.C.C.'s approach as a whole.

The rulings in question involved separate live Fox broadcasts of the 2002 and 2003 Billboard Music Awards, in which singer Cher and television personality Nicole Richie uttered profanities on air.

The network argued that such spontaneous expressions—known as "fleeting expletives"—represented unscripted commentary that the network was powerless to control.

Previously, the F.C.C. did not cite networks for fleeting expletives during live broadcasts, but reversed course in 2004 with charges against Fox, CBS, and ABC (the charges against the latter two were later dropped).

The Wall Street Journal says that the reversal will force the F.C.C. to rethink its approach. Before issuing any similar indecency violations, the F.C.C. will have the challenging task of finding a legally sound basis for its change of heart.