FCC – the Federal Construction Commission? As reported elsewhere on this blog, the FCC has decided to permit most directional AM licensees to use “moment method” computer programs to verify antenna performance. In a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking included as a portion of that decision, the Commission has also invited comment on how to … Continue Reading
The Commission has given the thumbs-up to the use of moment method computer modeling for directional AM proofs in many, but not all, circumstances. This should ease one of the most time-consuming and expensive burdens traditionally borne by AM licensees. Directional AM antenna systems are designed to generate carefully sculpted patterns of radiation – with the … Continue Reading
On September 26, the FCC released a short Declaratory Order clarifying certain issues relating to the mandatory carriage of DTV broadcast television stations on cable systems. The Order addresses the post-DTV transition effect of television stations’ must carry elections (which are due on or before October 1, 2008), the post-DTV transition channel placement rights and obligations … Continue Reading
With just about everything else getting more expensive by the minute, why should filing applications with the FCC be any different? And sure enough, on September 22 the Commission announced that it was “making adjustments” to its application fee schedule to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index. In this case, “making adjustments” is just … Continue Reading
By now all radio and TV licensees with "station employment units" (SEUs) having five or more full-time employees should be in the habit of preparing the annual EEO report that must be placed in the station’s local public inspection file each year on the anniversary of the due date for their renewal application. Those annual reports … Continue Reading
The Prosecution of Jeremy Jaynes by the Counselor Russell McGuire The Internet has long been described as the "Wild West" with regard to the application of law. We disagree with this characterization in that many laws applying to traditional media are generally applicable to the Internet as well, but for the sake of a good analogy, we’ll note that one of … Continue Reading
Fox oral argument in Supremes set for November 4 In planning your Election Day activities this Fall, you might want to pencil in a stop by the U.S. Supreme Court to catch the oral argument in the Fox v. FCC indecency case. (Read about the case in our earlier post.) It’s currently scheduled for the … Continue Reading
Comcast has both obeyed and appealed an FCC rule relating to its Internet access management. A month ago, the FCC cracked down on Comcast for selectively interfering with the communications of customers using BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer (P2P) application. Comcast said it was entitled to take action because BitTorrent users were hogging bandwidth. The FCC disagreed. … Continue Reading
On August 22 we reported on the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking looking to clear out all auxiliary operations in the 700 MHz band in advance of the February 17, 2009, DTV Transition. The deadlines for submitting comments on the Commission’s proposals have been established. October 3, 2008, is the deadline for comments, and October … Continue Reading