Janet Jackson's notorious "wardrobe malfunction" at the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show was unquestionably a tasteless stunt, particularly in an event watched by 90 million viewers, many of them children. Viewers complained loudly and immediately. The NFL and TV networks got the message. The republic survived.

End of story? Not quite.

Piling on, the Federal Communications Commission decided to punish CBS with a $550,000 fine for the incident, in which Jackson unexpectedly bared her breast for what the network says was nine-sixteenths of a second.

CBS appealed. On Monday, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia tossed out the penalty. The court found that the FCC's fine deviated from 30 years of restraint, during which the commission sanctioned broadcasters for indecency only when the material was so pervasive that it amounted "to 'shock treatment' for the audience."

As TV goes these days — rife with crude sitcoms and erectile dysfunction ads — Jackson's flash, without network knowledge, hardly qualifies. But both the FCC and Congress used the incident to declare war on TV "indecency." Congress increased fines tenfold. The FCC, again tossing out decades of precedent, decided in 2004 to sanction broadcasters for fleeting, one-time use of the "F-word." Last year, a federal appeals court in New York threw out that sanction, too. Now the case is pending at the U.S. Supreme Court, which will determine for the first time since 1978 how far the government can go to police what's on TV.

The FCC's actions spring from good intentions. Network television has grown more tasteless and sexually explicit over the years, leaving families with little to watch without fear of an unpleasant surprise. But hefty fines aren't going to bring back the days of The Ed Sullivan Show and Leave it to Beaver.

The Internet, where many teens spend more hours than they do watching TV, makes network broadcasting look tame, as do cable and satellite stations, which are beyond the FCC's reach because they do not use the public airwaves.

If adults don't like what they see and hear coming over those airwaves, they can switch channels. As for protecting children, that's a job best left to parents. With tools such as DVRs, the V-chip and guides to family-friendly programming, parents can limit what their children watch.

Loud complaints occasionally succeed, too. After the Jackson uproar, CBS deployed technology to delay and edit out offensive images during live programming. Super Bowl halftime shows got tamer, featuring old rockers such as Paul McCartney and Tom Petty.

Reacting to Monday's ruling, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said he still believes the Jackson incident "was inappropriate." No argument there. Now the FCC has to decide whether to appeal. Our advice: Just let the clock run out. The game is over, and with a satisfactory ending.