$1.2M fine traced back to only three FCC complaints

[Undertoad]

Blogger Jeff Jarvis files Freedom of Information act requests with the FCC to see what complaints led the FCC to fine Fox $1.2 million dollars for airing "Married by America". Their 159 complaints turned out to be 23 people. He then finds that 20 of them are identical photocopies or emails from a "complaint factory".

Only two letters were not the form letter.

So in the end, that means that a grand total of three citizens bothered to take the time to sit down and actually write a letter of complaint to the FCC. Millions of people watched the show. Three wrote letters of complaint.

And on the basis of that, the FCC decided to bring down the heavy hammer of government censorship and fine Fox an incredible $1.2 million for suggesting -- not depicting but merely suggesting -- sex on a show that had already been canceled because the marketplace didn't like it anyway.