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Author Topic: FCC Enforcement: Check, Please!  (Read 2537 times)

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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FCC Enforcement: Check, Please!
« on: May 24, 2012, 2219 UTC »
From DIYmedia.net: http://diymedia.net/archive/0512.htm#052412

It's been an active spring for field agents in the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, but the agency's pirate-hunting fervor still seems tempered. The present pace of this year's activity mirrors 2011 - good news of a sort, because last year saw a massive drop-off in enforcement action.

That said, about four dozen pirate stations in 13 states (and Puerto Rico) have had some sort of contact with the federales this year. Although the FCC's enforcement protocol remains firmly in the administrative realm, there have been some interesting developments this year.

The FCC seems to be ratcheting up the size of the monetary penalties it assesses against pirate broadcasters. To date, the Enforcement Bureau's issued eight forfeitures this year seeking a total of $102,500. In all of last year, the Bureau issued nine forfeitures worth $168,400. If this pace continues, 2012 could be the FCC's most fine-happy ever (a distinction currently held by 2003, when the Bureau billed 18 pirates for $186,100).

Some of these cases are pretty spectacular. One San Diego-area pirate who operated on multiple frequencies since at least 2010 got socked in March with two $25,000 fines. That's one of the largest forfeitures in modern microradio history. In Tennessee, because a microbroadcaster refused a field agent's request to inspect his station, the FCC seeks $22,000 from his hide.

This tactic is much more impressive on paper than in the real world. It's notoriously difficult for the FCC to collect on the forfeitures it issues, and in many cases with pirates, fines are statutorily reduced when a person demonstrates an inability to pay. Stiffening monetary penalties for refusing an FCC inspection is also a legally-questionable venture.

The more troubling development, however, comes not from the FCC. The ranks of bad apples operating dirty transmitters appears to be growing, especially in and around New York, where the Federal Aviation Administration reported five pirates for alleged interference with "frequencies...used by airplane pilots to communicate with airports in the New York City Metropolitan Area."

If true, this does not bode well for the public perception of pirate radio - and while it can sometimes be a dicey proposition, some self-policing among unlicensed broadcasters is definitely in order. Running a homegrown radio station is not rocket science, and proper signal filtering is both inexpensive and unobtrusive. If you're already taking the risk, why not do it right?

The broadcast industry claimed more than a decade ago that pirate radio stations could make airplanes fall from the sky. It's as ludicrous today as it was then, but the NAB and its state-level counterparts will use cases like these to push for the further criminalization of electronic civil disobedience. The FCC will welcome any assistance it can get.
Chris Smolinski
Westminster, MD
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Fansome

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Re: FCC Enforcement: Check, Please!
« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2012, 2237 UTC »
Where does the money from these fines end up?

I realize that, in view of the Federal budget, it's a very small amount of money, but I could imagine that the FCC might have a financial incentive to ramp up enforcement in tight times such as these, particularly if the money goes into something like the field office Christmas party fund.

Offline zackers

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Re: FCC Enforcement: Check, Please!
« Reply #2 on: May 24, 2012, 2332 UTC »
Are these mainly FM stations? Have any shortwave pirates been fined recently? Just curious.
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Offline diymedia

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Re: FCC Enforcement: Check, Please!
« Reply #3 on: May 25, 2012, 0539 UTC »
The FCC doesn't get the dough from forfeitures, it ends up in the general treasury funds. The original post contains beaucoup links to the Enforcement Action Database itself, where all the raw info lives, as well as to more on the FCC's sordid collections history.

Most of those dimed are FM pirates. Only two of those noted this year are AM broadcasters, and none on shortwave (so far, fingers crossed).

cmradio

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Re: FCC Enforcement: Check, Please!
« Reply #4 on: May 25, 2012, 0803 UTC »
So, the FCC is actively busting, without waiting for complaints? ???

Peace!

Offline diymedia

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Re: FCC Enforcement: Check, Please!
« Reply #5 on: May 25, 2012, 2039 UTC »
Nah, the enforcement process is still totally complaint-driven. The EB did set up a handly lil' page a couple of years ago for people to report online, tho: http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/PIRIX/

It would be neat to see if it gets any leads this way (would probably require a FOIA to pry that info out of 'em).

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: FCC Enforcement: Check, Please!
« Reply #6 on: May 25, 2012, 2058 UTC »
Nah, the enforcement process is still totally complaint-driven. The EB did set up a handly lil' page a couple of years ago for people to report online, tho: http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/PIRIX/

It would be neat to see if it gets any leads this way (would probably require a FOIA to pry that info out of 'em).

Is it possible to get enforcement information via a FOIA request? I recall reading once that was not the case.
Chris Smolinski
Westminster, MD
eQSLs appreciated! csmolinski@blackcatsystems.com
netSDR / AFE822x / AirSpy HF+ / KiwiSDR / 900 ft Horz skyloop / 500 ft NE beverage / 250 ft V Beam / 58 ft T2FD / 120 ft T2FD / 400 ft south beverage / 43m, 20m, 10m  dipoles / Crossed Parallel Loop / Discone in a tree

Offline diymedia

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Re: FCC Enforcement: Check, Please!
« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2012, 0424 UTC »
Is it possible to get enforcement information via a FOIA request? I recall reading once that was not the case.

I think it's highly unlikely. A case would have to be fully "closed" first which technically none of them really are until a fine is collected, an injunction is issued, or (in NY, NJ, and FL) someone is convicted. And those things happen so rarely as to be massive exceptions to the rule.

I have an open complaint against a (licensed) broadcaster pending with the EB, it's been in their hopper for a year now, and while the helpful people at 888-CALL-FCC can tell me that the case is still under review, I can't get any details beyond that. As the complainant, I should be privy to what's taking place in the case, and have often thought of trying the FOIA route to force the issue...but I suspect the parties are involved in negotiating a consent decree.

 

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