Reports from someone with Knoxville’s First Amendment Radio brings updated info on its situation: the “nastygram” was found around noon Thursday. Then for about an hour station volunteers played hide-and-seek with agents Eric Rice and Rickey Davis from the Atlanta District Field Office (photos available at the station’s web site). KFAR shut down and the agents went away.
First Amendment Radio stayed silent until 4pm Saturday when broadcasts resumed with a skeleton operation its volunteers are willing to risk if the FCC moves in the direction of a raid.
KFAR’s had at least one contact with the FCC prior to this one. The station recently filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the agency (objective unknown) and as of now is asking listeners to call, e-mail or write the agents in Atlanta asking them to cool it. Continue reading “KFAR/Oklahoma City FCC Update”
Tag: enforcement
FCC Visits First Amendment Radio
KFAR in Knoxville, Tennessee reports FCC agents left a “nastygram” at their broadcast trailer digs Thursday afternoon; the station left the air shortly afterward to consider its next move. At present KFAR’s web radio stream is still up and running.
There have also been unconfirmed reports of a microbroadcaster in Oklahoma City having contact with the FCC earlier in the week; this station reportedly broadcast nearly 24/7 and accepted listener phone calls. This one can’t go into the Database unless more concrete info surfaces.
FCC Stymied in Brattleboro Court
A hearing was held today on the FCC’s motion for an injunction to silence radio free brattleboro.
The FCC argued that broadcasting without a license is against the law. radio free brattleboro’s attorneys pointed to the incredible amount of local support and the fact that (as of now) the FCC offers no licenses to FM radio stations of 10 watts or less.
Judge J. Garvan Murtha was apparently influenced by the strong community support for and logic behind the station’s concerns. He denied the FCC’s motion for an injunction and – similar to the FCC v. (Stephen) Dunifer case of the mid-90s – asked both sides for further briefs. Those are due in 45 days. Continue reading “FCC Stymied in Brattleboro Court”
Dutch Authorities Nearly Complete Free Radio Crackdown; Other Miscellany
Been a bit hectic between the last update and this one; this scattershot-ness will likely continue for the next month or so. The site itself still needs some work before it’s fully comfortable in its new home, so if you experience a hiccup in connectivity it’s just me f*cking around trying to set things right.
There have been several new reports of more pressure from the Dutch authorities on pirate stations in the Netherlands. For nearly a year Agentschap Telecom (the Dutch version of the FCC) has run “Project Etherflits,” a nationwide sweep designed to clear the band of extraneous signals so the government can finalize its sale of the broadcast spectrum to the highest bidder. The Zerobase Radio Frequency Policy, as currently written, does not contain provisions for community radio stations – only public and commercial outlets are to share the air. Continue reading “Dutch Authorities Nearly Complete Free Radio Crackdown; Other Miscellany”
FCC Back in San Diego; Mediageek Updates rfb Situation
Time’s at a premium right now, hence the lack of regularity here. The transition and restoration of the collage galleries is in progress, which explains part of my absence. The rest you’ll just have to wait for, but there’s much more coming.
Free Radio San Diego reports the FCC made another courtesy call on Friday. Agent Bill Zears and an unidentified “younger kid” poked around and asked the landlord of the property about the antenna on the roof.
Her response: “Aren’t you guys the ones that are supposed to answer that question?” After being told not to return without something stronger than curiosity, the agents were gone within 30 minutes. Continue reading “FCC Back in San Diego; Mediageek Updates rfb Situation”
Scene Reports: Washington, Texas, Vermont
Two reports from Free Radio Olympia confirm a male/female team of agents from the FCC’s Seattle office were first caught snooping on the property around 3:30 yesterday afternoon. Confronted by someone, the agents finally identified themselves and were repeatedly denied entry to inspect the station.
After more than 20 minutes of getting nowhere the agents retreated to their “mini-van/suv type” vehicle, where reportedly “the female fcc agent called into the studio with a cell phone.” Don’t know if the call was broadcast, or if anything was taped, but the FCC went away after that. Continue reading “Scene Reports: Washington, Texas, Vermont”
Free Radio Brattleboro Threatened by U.S. Attorney; KBFR Back on Air After FCC Visit
rfb got a letter and phone call from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Burlington, Vermont January 8 threatening “action if the station does not stop broadcasting,” according to rfb’s local attorney. This likely a precursor to (at least) a raid, or (at most) the filing of an injunction against the station and its volunteers. rfb continues to collect signatures for its referendum drive – which would put the issue of official community support for the station to a vote of the people or Brattleboro – and its attorney has written a letter to the FCC and U.S. Attorney informing them of the station’s intentions in detail.
In Boulder, Colorado, KBFR rebounded from its FCC visit Tuesday with the quickness, returning to the air from a virgin location less than 48 hours after contact. Continue reading “Free Radio Brattleboro Threatened by U.S. Attorney; KBFR Back on Air After FCC Visit”
KBFR Receives Fourth FCC Visit; Skidmark Bob Produces "Pirates of the Air"
Agent Jon Sprague from the FCC’s office in Denver showed up Tuesday evening and simply dropped off yet another warning letter, reports Monk. The station is temporarily off the air as it moves to a virgin location (this is a drill they have down well by this point). The FCC visit comes just as KBFR prepares to hold a benefit concert featuring some of the musicians who’ve cycled through the station’s van/studio. A compilation CD of those performances, Studio Free Boulder, is now for sale, along with T-shirts (only locally, unfortunately).
Monk also recently blogged that they’ve got new company on the dial: Continue reading “KBFR Receives Fourth FCC Visit; Skidmark Bob Produces "Pirates of the Air"”
FCC Enforcement in 2003
Looking over the cases collected in the Enforcement Action Database for last year, there are a couple of interesting (yet very basic) conclusions to be found.
1) While the number of overall enforcement actions tops 2002’s figures, this is due to hits on single stations multiple times. If anything, it signifies an efficiency improvement within the FCC’s enforcement process. The strange thing is, this new-found tenaciousness doesn’t seem to be nationwide, more like case-dependent…but there just isn’t enough info to say for sure. Continue reading “FCC Enforcement in 2003”
Schnazz is Back; Collage Remains on Hiatus
Some kinks in the plans to move servers, I’m hoping to get things squared away by the end of this month. I’ve updated the media collage galleries with lots of new material…but you can’t get at it until I find a place to put it online. I think it will be worth the wait (although it’s killing me).
Not wanting to keep everything in stasis, regular updates have begun again to the rest of the site. This includes the Schnazz, which features a heavy dose of catch-up news. I especially like the FCC release about its $25,000 fine to A-O Broadcasting for zapping forest rangers with its improperly-mounted antenna on a firewatch tower in Cloudcroft, New Mexico. Continue reading “Schnazz is Back; Collage Remains on Hiatus”