The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau has pushed a little paperwork recently, issuing notices of $10,000 fines to unlicensed radio station operators in Michigan and Brooklyn, NY.
The NY case is interesting, because the accused is the Rev. Dr. Philius Nicholas, uncle of Abner Louima, the Hatian immigrant who was worked over by the NYPD in 1997, most infamously with a toilet plunger. It’s unknown what his radio station broadcast, but I’m willing to bet it had something to do with police brutality…
In other news, the Palm Beach Post had an interesting story in the paper yesterday – essentially a bitch-fest from some local commercial radio station owners about the proliferation of pirates in the area. Most notably, the article quotes an unnamed official, who acknowledges “a plethora of unlicensed radio operators in South Florida,” and notes that Tampa field agents have been investigating.
It is almost summertime, and historically that’s sweep time. I don’t think there’s any clearer indication of pending activity than that.
Once the links library is completed, the FCC Watch section goes up next. Stay tuned.