You think putting your license in a limited liability entity will always protect you? Think again. The FCC is holding an LLC's owner personally accountable for a proposed $1.7 million fine because of his company's alleged misconduct. How's that for "limited liability"?… Continue Reading
With tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires and the like already upon us -- and many more likely to come -- the FCC has reminded video providers of their obligation to make accessible to viewers with disabilities ALL crisis-related information. This obligation can extend well beyond the immediate geographic impact area of the crisis.… Continue Reading
Universities, hospitals, hotels, apartment complexes, office buildings, even prisons. Don't look now, but you might have signal leakage problems that could get you into serious trouble with the FCC.… Continue Reading
Suppose you receive a Forfeiture Order from the FCC demanding a large check for violating FCC rules. And suppose you want to raise a challenge. When and where do you do that? We're not longer sure, especially if you happen to be in Texas, Louisiana, or Mississippi.… Continue Reading
If you have a Verizon phone that uses C Block frequencies, tethering should be free. Still, three days after release of the consent decree, a limited spot check indicated that Verizon was still demanding $20 per month to tether a C Block phone.… Continue Reading
Little things -- like studio-transmitter links -- may seem like unimportant incidentals in the greater scheme of your operation, but heads up: the FCC doesn't share that perception.… Continue Reading
By beating up on college stations, the FCC creates a threat to the viability of college radio that could have unfortunate long-term effects.… Continue Reading
The Janet Jackson case is, for all intents and purposes, finished. But, as has been customary with just about everything surrounding L'Affaire Jackson, even the Supreme Court's final order included some unexpected flair.… Continue Reading
You've read his stuff, and you've probably wondered - who is this man of mystery they call the Swami? Now you can hear him and see him expounding (with customary eloquence) about the Supreme Court's latest decision on broadcast indecency.… Continue Reading
For some insight into what the Court's recent decision on indecency means going forward, we called on the Swami, Kevin Goldberg. Not surprisingly, he had some thoughts.… Continue Reading
The Supreme Court has sent the Fox and NYPD Blue cases back down to the Second Circuit. While that might sound like bad news for broadcasters, that's not necessarily the case. In fact, Fox and ABC can clearly view this decision as a significant victory.… Continue Reading
Stiffing the Commission on a consent decree commitment can't be tolerated, even when the stiffing occurs because the stiffer simply can't afford to pay. So the FCC has piled on even more fines to make that point clear.… Continue Reading
Section 1.17(b) prohibits what we have referred to as "misrepresentation lite", which seems to say that any mistake in anything you file with the FCC could subject you to a very substantial penalty, even if the mistake is purely unintentional. An AM licensee in Texas found out about this the hard way.… Continue Reading
NCE stations are now officially on notice that, when they broker airtime to a third-party programmer, the collection of any fees in excess of "reimbursement of operating expenses" is verboten.… Continue Reading
If you've got a main studio whose legality hinges on Longley-Rice calculations and if you weren't paying attention in 2010 when the Audio Division announced its interpretation of what is required in such situations, now would be a good time to focus on the problem.… Continue Reading
The Bureau is making $25 million available to ETCs to carry out "field experiments" on customers. It wants to see how much free or discounted Internet Joe Consumer needs to get hooked on broadband.… Continue Reading
Following up on the landmark USF Order last fall in which it first adopted a plan to distribute Universal Service Fund money for broadband build-outs, The FCC has announced the basic ground rules for the "reverse auction" by which it plans to distribute USF money for broadband build-outs in certain areas.… Continue Reading
With some further fine-tuning, it looks like the rules governing the FCC's revised Lifeline program are in effect or scheduled to take effect shortly (with maybe an exception or two).… Continue Reading
The urge to free up as much TV spectrum as possible for broadband use has now driven the Commission's Video Division to reach into the grave to take a couple of Class A authorizations back from a dead guy.… Continue Reading
In a Rorschach-like Notice of Apparent Liability, the FCC has proposed to extract a whopping $25,000 (ouch!) forfeiture from Google for impeding an investigation into the Wi-Spy controversy.… Continue Reading
Petitions for reconsideration of the Commission's order reforming the Lifeline program have been filed -- and the deadline for responding to them have now been set.… Continue Reading
