However, the court held that the "variable obscenity" standard does not apply to violence.

The defendants insisted that the "variable obscenity" standard from Ginsberg v. New York should be used.

The court declined to extend the application of the "variable obscenity" standard to violence, so strict scrutiny was applied instead.

The way the guilty word was used by Earnhardt does not appear to meet the F.C.C.'s indecency, profanity or obscenity standards.

This time around, Mr. Bloomberg had already violated his own obscenity standard by the end of September, when his spending surpassed $40 million.

These principles, filtered through a long line of later cases, ultimately influenced the U.S. Supreme Court's case law on obscenity standards.

Even within the United States, the software could provide communities with new justification for enforcing local obscenity standards online.

The proposal would allow the agency to order grant recipients to return Federal money if convicted of violating obscenity standards.

The obscenity standards would not be changed under the Justice Department's new campaign against distributors.

It would eliminate current restrictions on making grants but would require grant recipients to return the money if they were convicted of violating obscenity standards.