The government proposed a fine of $3.6 million against CBS and dozens of its stations and affiliates Wednesday in a crackdown on what regulators called indecent television programming.

The Federal Communications Commission said a network program, "Without a Trace," that aired in December 2004 was indecent. It cited the graphic depiction of "teenage boys and girls participating in a sexual orgy." ...

Rejecting an appeal by CBS, the FCC upheld its previous $550,000 fine against 20 of the network's stations for the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" at the Super Bowl two years ago....

--AP today

Just to put that in perspective, here's an AP story from last week:

The federal government said Wednesday it had fined the company that owns the West Virginia mine where a dozen miners were killed in January more than $100,000 in new penalties.

The fines were for 43 citations that had previously been issued but which had not yet received a price tag.

They are part of 208 citations that the federal agency issued against Ashland, Ky.-based International Coal Group for problems at Sago in the calendar year prior to the Jan. 2 explosion.

The new fines, totaling $105,840, are in addition to a little more than $24,000 previously assessed.

Many of the new fines are meant to address serious health and safety violations.

The largest fine was for $9,600 and involved roof support problems. Another fine for $9,200 dealt with ventilation problems.

None of the penalties the government previously issued at Sago exceeded $1,000, a fact that has drawn criticism from lawmakers and worker representatives.

... The agency's minimum penalty is $60, while $60,000 is its maximum....

Nice to see our government has its priorities straight.

(Emphasis mine throughout.)

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UPDATE: You can read a description of the offending Without a Trace episode here; there's also a clip (which I can't tell you anything about because it's not loading on this computer). Yes, it all sounds quite racy. However, I'd like to ask Brent Bozell, whose Parents Television Council provided the synopsis and clip and also conducted a form-letter campaign regarding the episode, whether he'd be willing to go to West Virginia and tell the families of the dead miners that near-naked teen flesh on TV is 30 times worse than their relatives' deaths.