Yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) Enforcement Bureau released three Notices of Illegal Pirate Radio Broadcasting to multiple New York City-based property managers for housing an unlicensed radio broadcasting operation. In conjunction with the notices, the FCC issued an Order – without the typical notice and comment procedures – implementing the Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act (“PIRATE … Continue Reading
In an order released this week, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) announced that Scripps Broadcasting Holdings had agreed to a $1.13 Million settlement with the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to resolve violations of tower lighting monitoring rules. What makes this case especially interesting is that the party who is paying the fine and instituting a years-long … Continue Reading
Decision has 5G implications Wow—FCC enforcement actions don’t get any juicier than this: an anonymous whistleblower, alleged misrepresentations to the FCC, and a complex $100 million fine to Straight Path Communications, Inc. for apparently misrepresenting that it had constructed 28 and 39 GHz licenses on applications to renew those licenses! All this is revealed in a … Continue Reading
Enforcement Bureau extracts half-million dollar “civil penalty” AND an extensive compliance plan commitment from Cumulus for spots which it didn’t even sell. The Enforcement Bureau has scored another trophy for its burgeoning trophy room of extravagant penalties. This time, it’s $540,000 extracted from Cumulus for a supposedly inadequate sponsorship identification on a number of spots … Continue Reading
While Circle-K and 7-Eleven are now vindicated, the thousands of poor souls who spent hours each year filling out unnecessary reports will never get that time back.… Continue Reading
A recent fine for a violation adds a new and troubling dimension to the enforcement of that or any other rule, a dimension that broadcasters should be aware of.… Continue Reading
The FCC's threats may well persuade Circle K and 7-Eleven to take cell phones off their shelves in favor of more kinds of potato chips and energy drinks.… Continue Reading
If you're a broadcaster with a station subject to a Local Marketing Agreement (LMA) or Time Brokerage Agreement (TBA), you might want to take a look at two Notices of Apparent Liability recently issued by the Enforcement Bureau.… Continue Reading
By issuing a spate of citations recently -- including one addressed to 7-Eleven -- the Enforcement Bureau may have started a domino effect likely to lead to the elimination of the near-ubiquitous availability of prepaid phones and phone cards.… Continue Reading
