"Thinking out loud since 1997"
Still a work in progress
Questions, comments, miscellany: phlegm@diymedia.net
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"Thinking out loud since 1997" Still a work in progress Questions, comments, miscellany: phlegm@diymedia.net |
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News of the Moment 1/5/09 - Mediageek's Year In Review [link to this story] One of the traditions Paul and I have fallen into the habit of doing is looking back at the past year in telecom policy. Although 2008 was more a year of hot air than actual doings, we decided to take the time on his latest show to critically examine Lawrence Lessig's proposal to "Reboot the FCC." Since Mediageek the radio show only runs in half-hour segments on the Internets, but is now actually an hour long in real-time, Paul has also posted the second segment of our show, where we examine 2008 in the context of FCC enforcement against pirate radio. 12/31/08 - The "War on Pirates" in 2008: Paper Beats Rock, Scissors [link to this story] I've just finished updating the Enforcement Action Database. The FCC's Enforcement Bureau has reported its field actions through mid-December, and as you can see, given any activity over the balance of the month, it is on target to meet and/or (most likely) beat the record enforcement year of 2007.
1. Most FCC enforcement is concentrated around geographic "hot spots" around the country. The top two are south Florida (most notably the Miami-Dade metroplex) and New York. If you add New Jersey in with NYC, the density of enforcement actions is about tied. It's not that far of a stretch to equate that with the density of existing pirate radio stations (i.e., they're not going away). 2. Although most of the enforcement occurs in these hot spots, the fact that enforcement takes place essentially nationwide makes the phenomenon of pirate radio a national one. I think it's just much less of a priority for some field offices than others. 3. There's a compelling trend this year in the timing of enforcement actions. Multiple field offices tend to go pirate-hunting around the same time of the month (often on the exact same days). If I had to guess, the FCC's mandate from D.C. is, "spend some time hunting pirates to show that we care," and the agents in the field mark a day or two on their monthly calendars to handle any pending complaints. (For what it's worth, there's no indication that the FCC's 15 month-old online pirate station reporting form is doing much good). 4. Finally, the primary tools of FCC enforcement remain, by and large, quite administrative. Station-visits and threatening-sounding certified letters are the field agents' ammunition of choice. It's worth noting that although the amount of monetary forfeitures has risen to 2006 levels, the FCC's expected recoupment for each enforcement action it takes is paltry; going pirate-hunting is a big money-loser for the agency. Note that the number of arrests and convictions have remained stable - and less than a handful at that. It would seem that those state laws criminalizing pirate radio are doing a whole lot of nothing. In fact, looking at the raw data from which I compile the majority of my statistics, the Enforcement Bureau's been going after more serious unlicensed broadcasters, like those who potentially jam public-safety, maritime, and land-mobile two-way radio networks. This is a phenomenon that also appears to be on the rise. The FCC's much more quicker to bring the fiscal hammer down on those sorts of people, but they're the ones doing real harm. The bottom line? 2009 will be a year of opportunity for unlicensed broadcasters. Without some sort of massive infusion of human resources, capital, and political will, the FCC simply doesn't have the strength to shut much of anything down. It's reached its enforcement capacity, and it's being overwhelmed. In that sense, we're winning. 12/24/08 - FCC Allows Stealth HD Power Boosts [link to this story] Although the Federal Communications Commission has deferred (for now) any formal action on its inquiry into whether or not to allow broadcast radio stations to increase the power of their digital ("HD") sidebands by a factor of ten, the agency's employing the tried and true method of "creating facts on the ground" by allowing individual stations (or station clusters) to individually apply for special temporary authority to hike their HD power levels. This is taking
place even though radio's engineering community
is deeply divided on
the issue of an HD sideband power increase. While not taking any formal stand on the issue, the FCC's standing aside (as usual) and letting industry initiative take its course. This is not something endemic to the Commissioner-level: this is a problem of FCC staff not being independent-minded enough of the industry interests they purport to regulate not paying f*cking attention. By the time Obama gets settled in, this particular cat may already be out of the bag. This is the primary issue I'll be focusing on over the next year, as I consolidate my dissertation research (which just so happens to be on this very topic). There's much more to come. 12/22/08 - Cooking By The Book? Not Quite [link to this story] I am never short of amazement at the heights to which collage artists, especially in their most popular form - the mashup - are taking this expressive outlet. I really have to learn more about video collage, especially, as many innovative DJs whom I respect - and some of my own students - are taking a shine to the mix-medium. This one, for example, features two subjects I've never had much love for - Strawberry Shortcake and Lil' Jon - and transforms them, on multiple levels, into something I can't get out of my head (in a good way). By the way, the preceding clip is neither safe for work nor lil' children. Props to one of my most-recent COMM 264 students for tipping me off to this gem. It's always fulfilling when the learning process works both ways. 12/19/08 - U.S. Military Resorts to Radio Piracy to Win Hearts and Minds [link to this story] Well, isn't this something. While the Wired reporter is all agog about an iPod being used in a battle zone, I like the spectral appropriation motif better:
Over here, the government will ding you $10K and possibly haul you into court if you try that sort of thing. It's another one of those moments when you can't help but think to yourself, "why aren't we doing here what we're doing there?" Without the military's assistance, of course. At least, in this case, they're "liberating" transmitters, instead of destroying them and imposing psychological operations by force. |
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