Q. Why can't I %$&#%^$ing curse on the radio? Will they really fine me a zillion dollars?

The basic answer is, indecency enforcement shifts with the times, and the interest of engaged citizens groups to hound the FCC into action. Just about everyone at the FCC thinks that the indecency rules are the stupidest thing ever, and they hate enforcing them. But when they get a pile of angry letters from some freak evangelist group, they start issuing fines to stations.

The important thing to realize is there is no #$%&^$#&^$ list. that is a #^#%$$*#@! myth, a joke made up by george carlin that stuck. What there is is a regulation, that says that you can never broadcast obscene material, and you can only broadcast indecent material when children are unlikely to be listening. the FCC has no list-- they have 70 years of court cases and administrative rulings that inform the current interpretation of what is and is not indecent.
 

So, if you really want to know, you have to read the case law. The FCC came out with a nice "short" 30 page summary back in 2001. Fortunately, it is the funniest fucking thing you will ever read. You should hang it in the station bathroom, it has tons of examples of bathroom humor and the FCC explains why or why not each of the is indecent in really stiff legal terms. Go here and download it- you'll be laughing for a week.  After that is a summary of FCC indecency regulations put out by the Garvey, Schubert, and Barer law firm.

www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Enforcement/Orders/2001/fcc01090.pdf

http://www.nfcb.org/resources/intro_indecency.pdf

also once you have read those two things, take the indecency quiz:

http://www.gsblaw.com/practice/notableevents.asp?StoryID=1521505112006&groupID=21

The other thing people need to know is that 99.9% of actual enforcement has been against commercial stations with their morning zoo shows and whatnot. The rules are geared heavily towards enforcement against indecency that is juvenile, rather than something that has any hint of artistry involved in it. The only enforcement I have heard of during the past ten years in community radio was when a disgruntled volunteer flipped out and tried to nail KBOO because he did not like a poetry program. The main lesson- be good to each other in the station, don't freak out on each other, and make sure no one is tempted to bring in the federal government to settle a petty internal dispute.

%$#&^%$%#%^ yours,

pete tridish