CBS takes regulator to court over 'wardrobe malfunction'

CBS, fined for airing singer Janet Jackson's breast-baring episode during the 2004 Super Bowl's halftime show,has takenthe federal regulator to court, arguing the incident took place withoutthe U.S. network'sconsent.

Thesuit against the Federal Communications Commission over a $550,000 US fine began on Monday in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

In a court brief, CBS argued the FCC "failed to turn up even a shred of evidence suggesting that anyone at CBS participated" in the so-called wardrobe malfunction, and that the commission abandoned an established policy that "fleeting, isolated or unintended" images would not be considered indecent.

The show aired on Feb. 1, 2004, to an estimated 90 million viewers. At the end of the halftime musical performance, Justin Timberlake reached his hand over Jackson's bustier and exposed one of her breasts.

The network described the flashing in a 76-page brief as an "unscripted, unauthorized and unintended long-distance shot of Ms. Jackson's breast for nine-sixteenths of one second."

The FCC countered the network's argument, saying the network "continues to ignore the voices of millions of Americans, Congress and the commission by arguing that Janet Jackson's halftime performance was not indecent… we continue to believe they are wrong."

Theperformance was staged by MTV Entertainment in an effort to draw a younger, hipper audience to the halftime show at the Super Bowl, the NFL championship and one of the most-watched programs in North America.

Timberlake, Jackson and CBS apologized for the incident— famously referred to by Timberlake as a "wardrobe malfunction."

The following two Super Bowls went for safer halftime entertainment,with former Beatle Paul McCartney performing in 2005 and the Rolling Stones on stage this year.