The move comes after widespread outrage following Janet Jackson's infamous breast-baring incident. A new law had already proposed to raise fines from $27,500 (£15,000) to $275,000 - but a Congress committee has now voted 49-1 to change that to $500,000. Full Congress and Senate must approve the law before it comes into force. The vote to increase the proposed fines was taken by the Congress' House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday. Committee chairman Representative Joe Barton said: "Personal responsibility is as important a freedom as free speech. "America's responsible parents seek to raise their children with a strong sense of responsibility for their actions - why should performers be excluded from this expectation?" If the bill becomes law, TV and radio broadcasters could be fined $500,000 each time they air indecent material. There has been a strong reaction in the US after several recent broadcasts - such as Janet Jackson's "Nipplegate" - caused offence. Radio "shock jock" Howard Stern has been dropped from six radio stations owned by Clear Channel after the company said he conducted a "vulgar and insulting" interview.

Zero tolerance

The company also fired Florida DJ Bubba the Love Sponge after a sexually explicit conversation between spoof cartoon characters on his show. Clear Channel, the largest US radio station operator with more than 1,200 outlets, recently adopted a "zero tolerance" policy. At Wednesday's Congress hearing, Representative Albert Wynn, a Maryland Democrat, said the fines "would provide further incentives to licensees to better address these issues". And Representative Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican, said they would "deter companies from pushing the envelope of appropriate broadcasting". The full House of Representatives could vote on the bill as early as next week, while the Senate Commerce Committee is due to consider it on 9 March.

Two seconds of bare flesh and America is beside itself with indignation and outrage

Janet Jackson's Super Bowl stunt, which she says went further than she planned, has left the US in a state of mass apoplexy on the subject of taste and decency in broadcasting. A few moments after the now infamous "wardrobe malfunction" a grinning Justin Timberlake told the Access Hollywood TV show: "Hey man, we love giving you all something to talk about." That is putting it mildly. "I know many people in other countries are scratching their heads and thinking 'What in the world is the big fuss over there?'," said Robert Thompson, director of the Centre for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University. "But this country takes exposed breasts very, very seriously. We get very exercised about such things." There is no denying the level of public fury. Within minutes of the Super Bowl half time performance, the internet was abuzz with angry chatter and phone lines to CBS's New York headquarters were jammed. "That was the most disgusting thing that I have ever seen at a sports spectacle," said baseball coach Tommy Lasorda in Los Angeles. "They just absolutely ruined the fact that it was one of the greatest Super Bowl games that I have ever seen."