DIYmedia.net News of the Moment

Mediageek's Year In Review

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:10:13 -0600

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.

The "War on Pirates" in 2008: Paper Beats Rock, Scissors

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:42:15 -0600

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.

What does this mean? It depends on how you look at the data. Sure, the FCC's busting more pirates than ever, but does that really mean it's making a dent in station proliferation? A couple of major conclusions from the year-in-review are striking:

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.

FCC Allows Stealth HD Power Boosts

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 03:19:50 -0600

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. Comments filed by the Prometheus Radio Project and Media Access Project (disclaimer: on which I informally consulted) succinctly summarize the dispute. The main question is: is it realistically possible use HD Radio as a tool to improve the existing medium, or will HD intentionally degrade it so that the spectrum's repurposement becomes inevitable - or, at the very least, make its ownership more consolidated?

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.

Cooking By the Book? Not Quite

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:38:42 -0600

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.

Truthful Translations + 5

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:02:44 -0600

Many big names bless us for the holidays. Such as Skidmark Bob, who's back with a two-part, hour-long megamix looking back at the legacy of Dubya. Then there's two video amazements from rx: one featuring GW doing Sinatra, and the other featuring the UK Parliament covering not one, but two Sex Pistols songs. And finally, there's the Mediageek, which chipped in a piece for the now-defunct Voices of America project.

Schnazz Update

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:27:35 -0600

Yeah, I know it's been four months since the last one; that just means there's more there for you to enjoy! I lost track north of 60 links.

U.S. Military Resorts to Radio Piracy to Win Hearts and Minds

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:29:52 -0600

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:

Radio geeks would be familiar with the tools: a 100 Watt Harris AM/FM "radio in a box" transmitter coupled with a Marantz rack-mountable portable CD/cassette player. The PsyOps team loaded up a laptop with contemporary Iraqi and Arabic pop music and started broadcasting on a local frequency, 93.9 FM.

The transmitter is designed for use by emergency responders. It has a small range -- [Maj. Byron] Sarchet estimated it had a reach of only a few kilometers -- but in a densely populated area like Sadr City, it can reach a large audience.

According to Sarchet, the whole thing was a "quick fix." He wanted to broadcast a pro-coalition message during heavy fighting in the city. So he liberated the radio transmitter from a State Department embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team (e-PRT), put the radio on the roof of a building, and started broadcasting.

"I stole that radio from e-PRT," he said. "It was in their office and they weren't using it, and I said, 'I gotta have it – I'm taking it.' We're going to broadcast into Sadr City on it."

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.

Scene Report: California

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 07:24:39 -0600

While I may still be on partial hiatus, as the fall semester ends in its typical whirlwind of student-meetings, evaluations, and grading, life moves on. And I am pleased to report that the microradio movement is alive and well. I will be most interested to see just how the FCC wraps up this year's "war on pirates" - when I finally find the time to digest the data.

Some heartening news comes from the old guard in California. Berkeley Liberation Radio, after suffering a government raid on its studio premises (not related to the station itself), has safely relocated and is kicking as usual. Across the Bay, San Francisco Liberation Radio has also been revived - the correspondence I received does not explicitly state that this return will include a frequency-modulated signal, but it leaves room for speculation: "Since our court case was resolutely rejected by the Ninth Circuit, SFLR dropped the legal proceedings but continued to stream internet radio. Now [a new crew] will continue in the long and storied tradition of SFLR in the South of Market area." You can't keep a good idea down.

Meanwhile, down the coast, my pal Skidmark Bob has been busy. He's produced a mega-special on the eight-year rain of "King George," and he says he's not done with the man just yet. As far as Freak Radio Santa Cruz itself is concerned, there is both good and bad news. The good news is the crew is now beginning the process of digitizing the station's decade-and-a-half history, beginning with a short station video of the corporate media's interest in FRSC circa 1995 now on YouTube. George, Uncle D, and Bob promise more is forthcoming.

On the downside, FRSC has finally ran through its massive outpouring financial support which helped it bounce back, stronger and more technically-sophisticated, after the FCC's disastrous raid on the station four years ago. It could use a little money-love; if not, it might be back to broadcasting from the bicycle cart.

"Is This My New TV?"

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:29:46 -0600

Yes, Grandma, you may very well be right. Seriously, though: while the previous link is to a parody, check how many views it's gotten. Now compare that to the number of overall viewers that were exposed to the NASCAR "DTV Transition Ford" which, in its four glorious races as-sponsored by the FCC, finished at best in 27th. Crashes aside, was this 'lil stunt really an outreach effort worth $350,000 of taxpayer money? Granny's probably more done to elevate DTV in the public mind than the FCC has so far - with a homemade video that clocks in at under two minutes.

(Of course, in the interest of "balance" it is appropriate to point out that racing favoritism at the FCC is a bipartisan issue - Democratic Chairman William Kennard effectively gave a race-track in Texas the right to run a pirate radio station after some badgering from said track-owner's Congresscritter. But I digress.)

There's still a lot to be sorted out in D.C., but in the media policy context it certainly can't get any worse than the reign of Mikey Powell and Kevin Martin's "faith-based" agenda. Good riddance to that.

More HD Radio and DTV Fun

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:53 -0600

Check this "confidential survey" designed to gauge industry acceptance of HD Radio. Question #10 is my favorite, as it really encapsulates the overall tenor of the survey itself:

Overall, which of the following statements best applies to you and HD Radio technology?
* - I was never a fan, and don’t believe in HD Radio’s future
* - I’m not sure about how I feel about HD Radio
* - I was a fan, but now am very pessimistic about HD Radio’s future
* - I was a fan, but am not so sure about HD Radio’s ultimate success
* - I am a fan and believe that HD Radio will succeed
* - Other (please specify)

I filled out the survey, and since it's not quite confidential anymore, so can you. It will be interesting to see if its results are ever published.

Then there's the ongoing saga of the "#38 DTV Transition Ford": New race, new crash. In this one, the car went airborne and landed on top of another, causing a fire. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries. If only the same could be said for the transition itself.

Catch-Up Notes of Miscellany

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:10:10 -0600

Going to try to ease back into the swing of things, though there's still a lot of non-site work in my life right now still going on. But just a few notes to let you know I'm still alive:

1. Good friend and collagist extraordinaire rx has released an eight-minute trailer of his latest magnum opus - a remix-documentary of the 2008 presidential election. rx isn't a big fan of deadlines (especially those self-imposed), but he tells me the full doc should be ready for public viewing hopefully by the end of this year or early next.

2. The NAB is waving the interference canard again in an attempt to sway the FCC (and Congress, if necessary), not to allow the unlicensed use of analog-TV white-space spectrum once the DTV transition is completed in February. Ample evidence shows that such use will not cause interference - but the NAB begs to disagree, spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt about this new (and budding) technological advance on spectrum that could be repurposed for anything from spread-spectrum wireless in the home or office to a viable wireless "last-mile third pipe" for broadband access (something all Americans desperately need, whether they recognize it or not yet). In fact, the disingenuous cries of interference from the NAB sound eerily familiar...oh, yeah, it used the same trope to try and squash LPFM. Its blatant warping of scientific fundamentals for political gain was enough eight years ago to sway ignorant Congresscritters into eviscerating the new LPFM service; don't get fooled again, folks.

3. And speaking of DTV: WTF? The best way FCC Chairman Kevin Martin can think of to "educate the public" about the oncoming DTV transition is to sponsor a NASCAR driver? Outside of the fact that this expenditure, according to the available evidence, is arbitrary and capricious, and the average NASCAR race is only watched by eight of the 300-odd million citizens in this country, the first race FCC-sponsored driver David Gilliand competed in after signing his FCC sponsorship ended in an early crash. It's pretty emblematic of the FCC's handling of the DTV transition process in and of itself.

Truthful Translations +1

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 18:38:08 -0500

Skidmark Bob is back with a "McCain Senior Moments Mix." Three-star stuff.

Not-Quite-Hiatus Ahoy

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:49:32 -0500

It's that time of the semester when my teaching duties kick into high-gear. This fall, I've got 33 students in an introduction to the political economy of the media class (which is right up my alley, and I had loads of fun teaching it last spring). Each of them are now busy researching and writing 10-page papers on a media policy issue of their choice. I'm spending long days in the office doing paper-counseling sessions as well as the necessary work for class-prep itself. In addition, I've got some deadlines looming to submit paper-abstracts for a communication research conference.

As a result, I'll be shortly suspending multi-weekly news-updates to concentrate on getting the legacy projects of the site back up to currency. In the meantime, outside of the instances when I simply can't help myself from bloviating, I strongly suggest that (if you aren't already) you supplement your info-diet with a subscription to either the Benton Foundation's Communications-Related Headlines newsletter or Free Press' Media Reform Daily. Both are free; they're also required reading for my students.

Truthful Translations +1

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:09:03 -0500

Just adding the John McCain video mash-up referenced in the previous post. Don't understand how this one slipped through the cracks for all these years....

McCain Flip-Flops on Astronaut Experience

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:44:03 -0500

Finally, the Truthful Translations of Political Speech become useful for actual fact-checking purposes!

This week, John McCain was asked a provocative question by the editorial board of the Des Moines Register: why all the hate on taxpayer-funded health insurance proposals from a man who's lived the majority of his entire adult life covered by government-funded and -administered healthcare systems?

Fortunately, the (non-)answer was caught on tape. But let me direct you to approximately 30 seconds into his response:

"And I have never, um, been an astronaut, but I think I know the challenges of space."

Now, the context in which this "wtf?" moment occurred was while John McCain was describing his philosophy of public versus private enterprise, and only tangentially touching on the subject of the original question (healthcare, and McCain's use of it).

But the real question is: wasn't John McCain really an astronaut once? Let us rewind to 2000, when McCain was contesting the Republican presidential primary against George W. Bush. In a television interview featuring the two men, the brilliant Joshua Pearson - one of the masterminds behind the illustrious yet (unfortunately) now-defunct Emergency Broadcast Network - caught him on tape saying the exact opposite.

In fact, references to space (and especially Star Wars metaphors) are uncannily missing from McCain 4 Prez v. 2.0.