In what is being called a victory for CBS, a federal appeals court Monday threw out a $550,000 indecency fine for Janet Jackson’s breast-baring “wardrobe malfunction” in the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show.

The court ruled that the FCC “acted arbitrarily and capriciously” in issuing the fine for the fleeting image of nudity, which it noted lasted just over half a second.

An estimated 90 million people watching the Super Bowl heard Justin Timberlake sing, “Gonna have you naked by the end of this song,” as he reached for Jackson’s bustier.

According to the story, the appeals court in Philadelphia found that in penalizing CBS, the FCC deviated from its nearly 30-year practice of fining indecent broadcast programming only when it was so “pervasive as to amount to ’shock treatment’ for the audience.”

In the Super Bowl case, the ‘nudity’ lasted barely a half-second.

“This is a slap in face for the FCC,” said Stuart M. Benjamin, a Duke University law professor and expert in telecommunications law. “Every broadcaster is rejoicing right now.”

The $550,000 fine represents the maximum $27,500 levied against each of the network’s 20 owned-and-operated stations.

Should there have been a penalty for the for the wardrobe malfunction, and if so, what?