Local SF pirate radio station fined $10,000 by Obama's FCC

[Starchild]

I was interviewed on Pirate Cat Radio before, which is more than I
can say for most of the local corporate radio stations. I left
comments dropping the hint that maybe some station personnel and
listeners made a mistake voting for Obama and wishing them luck
getting back on the air, and noting that the sentence from the press
release below, "The FCC was established by the Communications Act of
1934, and was given the responsibility of making a “fair, efficient
and equitable distribution of radio service”, and to ensure that
broadcasters serve the ‘public interest’" provides a good example of
how well-intentioned government programs can end up being harmful
rather than helpful.

Would it be premature to tout the benefits to pirate radio operators
of having a welcoming broadcast base 12 miles offshore?

Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))


> http://www.piratecatradio.com/wordpress/?p=14816#comment-51326
> OCTOBER 31, 2009
> PCR has Been fined $10,000 by the FCC!
> Filed under: News Headlines — Monkey @ 10:33 pm
>
> HUGE BLOW IN WAR AGAINST CORPORATE DOMINATION OF THE AIRWAVES;
> PIRATES TAKE A HIT.
>
> After over 13 years of almost continual broadcasting, Pirate Cat
> Radio 87.9 FM will no longer be heard over the FM airwaves of San
> Francisco and the Bay Area.
> San Francisco, CA, 10/31/2009 — Pirate Cat Radio, a volunteer-run,
> community broadcasting organization operating out of the Pirate Cat
> Café in San Francisco’s Mission district, has ceased its terrestrial
> broadcast on 87.9FM in response to the latest demands of the Federal
> Communications Commission.
>
> In a notice dated August 31, 2009 the FCC asserted that Monkey, the
> founder of Pirate Cat Radio, “willfully and repeatedly violated
> Section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934” and proposed to fine
> him $10,000 for the infraction.
>
> By bringing to bear the full weight of the Federal government
> against continued broadcast operations, the FCC’s order effectively
> ends Pirate Cat Radio’s thirteen-year run as one of the Bay Area’s
> most consistent voices of protest against corporate-run media
> monopolies and monocultural programming.
>
> The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934, and was
> given the responsibility of making a “fair, efficient and equitable
> distribution of radio service”, and to ensure that broadcasters
> serve the ‘public interest’.
> It is hard to understand how fining the founder of Pirate Cat Radio,
> an entirely volunteer run community station, and effectively taking
> them off the air after 13 years, is an appropriate action and in the
> public’s interest There have never been any complaints over PCRs
> content. Pirate Cat Radio provides an important community service
> one that has been recognized by the Board of Supervisors in a
> certificate of honor. They are one of the best sources of news and
> regularly broadcast Al Jazeera and BBC bulletins.The news is read in
> every 2-hour DJ slot. They make regular valuable PSAs and publicize
> local events. They take an active approach to involving the
> community, by bringing local unsung heroes and talents into the
> studio.Pirate Cat Radio provides a voice and outlet for many
> sections of the community of the Bay Area which cannot make
> themselves heard anywhere else.
>
> If the public’s interests are to be served then ‘ordinary’ people
> must be allowed to make their voice heard and to be allowed to
> express themselves creatively without regard for commercial success.
> The FCC’s policy instead seems to be protecting the airwaves for the
> big corporations to pump out their bland, homogenized wasteland
> offering dull limited playlists, banal chat and censored opinions.
> Until this happens people must continue to challenge the corporate
> domination of the airwaves.
>
> Looking to the future, PCR can continue as an internet only station
> and the café/studio on 21st st will continue to operate, but at
> least for the time being, but it cannot safely broadcast over the
> terrestrial FM band without possibly jeopardizing its volunteers and
> supporters. How this will affect the service is not clear yet,
> although it is true that the majority of their listeners are now
> online or downloading podcasts.
>
> “Obviously this is a major disappointment,” says Monkey, “But we
> made a collective decision that Pirate Cat Radio must come off the
> public airwaves, until some method is found to change the law or get
> it authorized under existing law.”
>
> For additional information:
>
> Monkey
>
> Pirate Cat Radio
>
> 415-571-1911
>
> mon...@piratecatradio.com
>