More than 100 enforcement actions have been logged through early December, besting the previous record (2003) by a fair margin. It’s important to recognize that these are just numbers, though: FCC contact with most stations generates at least two data points in the Database (a visit followed by a warning letter). Thus, when broken down by actual stations busted, the number drops to far below 100. Continue reading “FCC in 2005: Busiest Enforcement on Record”
Tag: enforcement
First Florida Conviction Railroads Used Car Salesman
It was an unhappy Thanksgiving for Panagiotis Frangiskakis. He runs a used car business in Lake Worth, on land that used to belong to a cab company, which included a small tower. Frangiskakis rented out office and tower space to people who ran two Haitian FM pirate stations from the premises.
Investigations into those stations began in February. In June, the stations were raided and Frangiskakis was charged with unlawful transmission – a state felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Note Frangiskakis did not actually broadcast himself: he was just the landlord. The authorities never figured out who actually ran the stations. Continue reading “First Florida Conviction Railroads Used Car Salesman”
Anti-Pirate Laws Under Fire, Nearing Passage
It’s been nine months since the American Radio Relay League formally requested the FCC void a statute implemented in Florida last year that criminalized unlicensed broadcasting. The agency’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau is supposed to do the deliberation. So far, no word.
The FCC’s in a sticky situation. Pirate radio activity in Florida is off the charts compared to the rest of the country – way, way more than the FCC field offices in Tampa and Miami can handle. So they would prefer to look the other way while state officials clean up the AM and FM dials: the chief of the Tampa office has already said as much. Continue reading “Anti-Pirate Laws Under Fire, Nearing Passage”
Scene Reports: Illinois, Louisiana
Illinois: It seems that a group of folks headed out after the WRFU barnraising to pay a visit to Springfield, the home of Mbanna Kantako‘s Human Rights Radio. They found Kantako and the station in good spirits, albeit at extremely low power, thanks to a blown amplifier, which is now under repair.
Kantako celebrates his 18th nearly-uninterrupted year on the air in five days – a large portion of which has been archived on tape. Continue reading “Scene Reports: Illinois, Louisiana”
Radio Algiers Visited By FCC; Send Shouts to WRFU
FCC agents reportedly 
paid a visit (32:39, 15 MB, thanks V-Man and Indynewswire) to Radio Algiers in New Orleans on November 2. The station is off the air indefinitely; plans are to try and utilize the facilities of WTUL to help those desiring to speak truth to power acquire a spot on the local radio dial. Please note the irony: the FCC can make the rounds but FEMA is still missing in action. Hopefully the gear will stay in circulation.
More than 120 folks have signed up to help build our little LPFM station in Urbana this weekend. Registration will be accepted on-site, so it’s not too late to get involved. Even if you can’t make it, you can still participate in our inaugural broadcast. Visit this page and follow the instructions to give WRFU greetings, which we’ll broadcast as part of our inaugural smorgasbord show Sunday evening.
Zack de la Rocha Walks Talk
“Contact I highjacked the frequencies,” indeed. On June second FCC agents traced a pirate station broadcasting on the well-known L.A. frequency of 104.7 FM to la casa de la Rocha. District Director Catherine Deaton served up a Notice of Unlicensed Operation at the end of September. The station’s status is currently unknown.
This trivia courtesy of the freshly-updated Enforcement Action Database. 2005 is shaping up to be a busy year.
Guerrilla Radio, Deep and Wide
Pirate radio embraces the guerrilla motif: attack, disappear, reform, repeat. Several years ago it flared, made headlines, and a bit of history, but then subsided. Now things are at a healthy simmer again, and this time on more than one dial.
On the enforcement front, although the FCC still cares about pirates, activity on all three major bands (AM, FM, and shortwave) is evident. A recent story in the Boston Globe profiled several AM pirates operating there. The FCC took up the issue of LPFM in part because of pressure from committed microbroadcasters; could there be similar motivations at play in its new LPAM rulemaking? Shortwave pirates, who haven’t seen enforcement action in six years, are downright cocky. Continue reading “Guerrilla Radio, Deep and Wide”
FCC Enforcement: Initial Follow-Through Improves
The trend in Enforcement Bureau statistics over the last year suggests the agency is doing a better job of following up on pirate radio complaints, but still lacks the ability to actively shut stations down.
This year field agents have become much more consistent about following through with the first few steps of the enforcement protocol. Whereas it used to be months (if not years) between, say, a station visit and a warning letter (or two), field agents are pretty uniformly following up on initial visits with a warning letter within a month or two of first contact. Continue reading “FCC Enforcement: Initial Follow-Through Improves”
FCC Still Hunting in San Diego; LPFM Comment Period Extended
This week the folks behind 106.9FM, the on-air relay for RadioActive San Diego, got a letter dropped at their door warning them to shut down or face a $10,000 fine. This is not much of a surprise given the recent raid of compatriots. The station plans to be off the air for a spell – during which time volunteers will build a bigger transmitter. Sez the blog, “The station will not only resume broadcasting within two weeks, but with the help of community sponsors, we will go back on the air five times stronger.”
On the legal side of things, the FCC has extended the comment/reply comment period on its current LPFM rulemaking for two weeks, making the new deadlines August 22 for comments and September 6 for reply comments. The extension comes at the request of the Station Resource Group, a consortium of pubcasters who will soon be going on their annual retreat and want to use part of their time together to write collective comments.
Berkeley Liberation Radio Back On Air; FRSD Raid Follow-Up
According to the latest AMPB Report, Berkeley Liberation Radio returned to the East Bay airwaves at 6pm Sunday. The station has also vowed to start web streaming as well, but that seems like a stretch since its web site is perpetually under construction.
More press is available about Thursday’s raid on Free Radio San Diego, including another interview with Bob Ugly on Enemy Combatant Radio and some corporate media mentions. While FRSD is not pining for a fight in court (as it does not generally respect the FCC’s quasi-police function), it did send preemptive correspondence to the agency shortly after taking to the air, invoking the “perpetual war loophole” in FCC rules as justification to broadcast. So far the agency’s ignored that.