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Avast! Feds fine Dorchester radio pirate
By adamg on Thu, 05/08/2008 - 12:44pm
The FCC has ordered a local man to pay a $17,000 fine for running an unlicensed radio station on Blue Hill Avenue.
The FCC says Charles Clemons continued to run Touch FM at 106.1 FM even after FCC field investigators - acting on a complaint from engineers at licensed stations - told him to knock it off.
When confronted with the station's operation, Clemons did not deny operating the station. The agents advised Clemons that he must discontinue the unlicensed operation immediately and outlined the possible penalties for continued operation of an unlicensed station. When the agents asked to conduct an inspection of the station, Clemons refused. When questioned, he stated that the studio was at a different location, but refused to provide the address.
The order is dated Feb. 29, but the FCC ruled this week that Clemons was now a deadbeat because he had failed to pay the fine.
As of this morning, at least, the station was not streaming on its Web site. UPDATE, 3:20 p.m.: It's back, at least on the Web.
Via BostonRadio.org
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Comments
GREAT
About time this shithead gets what he deserves.
low power FM
He was clearly violating FCC rules and the FCC acted accordingly. HOWEVER, I was a part of a strong national and local movement in the 1990's to make it possible to operate low power FM community stations legally. I'm not talking about college radio - some small college stations are "grandfathered." I'm talking about 20-100 watt stations serving neighborhoods and small towns. It's a model not unlike Public Access Television but much cheaper to operate at a high production value. A new licensing class did come of it, but adjacency rules were not relaxed as part of a compromise with those opposed and metro-Boston does not benefit. The naysayers were complaining about signal drift and interference. But, those arguments would of course be nullified by the FCC having oversight of the licenses. The biggest opponents of community radio are NPR and the NAB (National Assoc. of Broadcasters).
I have no problem if they're
I have no problem if they're using spectrum that others aren't, but I don't think that's the case here, and mostly with pirate Boston radio.
Some night I can't even get NPR over FM due to some asshat broadcasting on the same signal. I'm pretty sure it's a pirated signal, as other night I can get it just fine with no interference.
FM Pirate
What I'd REALLY love to see is a pirate at 96.5 or 97.3 wiping out WTKKK-FM in neighborhoods in Boston! Pouquoi? So I could witness the spectacle of right-wing airheads like Jay Severin or Michael Graham-cracker petitioning the FEDERAL GOVERMENT to make them stop!
Let's have some pirate
Let's have some pirate broadcast some of the programming that we lost when the Jeezo-Hispanics took over 1150 AM and put it out on, I dunno, how about 90.9 FM... That way I could hear people like Prager, Medved and Hewitt again instead of the unlistenable ponderous moonbats that my taxes support.
Not coincidentally
NPR and the NAB are two of the shittiest organizations in America.
**The biggest opponents of
**The biggest opponents of community radio are NPR and the NAB**
You mean the biggest opponents of community radio are those that play by the rules and respect the laws?
The biggest PRO-ponents of so-called "Community Radio" are ego driven people who think the law doesn't apply to them.....and their broadcasts are God's gift to the rest of us.
I never say anyone so blatently break the law (and brag about it) than the gang at Touch 106.
It's all about fairness folks.
What that one hater fails to realize is that the government allows all kinds of low watt stations in area of distress. You cannot tell me that the communities largely served by TOUCH 106.1 FM are not in distress.
I come on the show and talk about real issues that mass media doesn't want you to know about, you talk about "those who play by the rules," but I show you when and how government doesn't "play by the rules itself" and I show it in ways that mass media NEVER WILL.
http://touchfmboston.blogspot.com/2009/12/wanted-m...
http://touchfmboston.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-is-c...
http://touchfmboston.blogspot.com/2009/12/menino-t...
Have a nice day.
Pirates are in it for themselves....
Hey Moon Brain....where do the pirates get all that music they play for free?
Do they pay for an ascap or BMI license?
Or are they just ripping off artists?
If you want to serve the community, buy a station and serve the community!
WILD is for sale. Why can't anyone make tHAT station work?
WILD
Because it has a daytime-only license? That's pretty crippling. The only reason WJIB (740) survives is that it's a one-man operation run by someone who doesn't seem to care about making much money.
great signal!
>>Quote:
WILD is for sale. Why can't anyone make tHAT station work?
Because it has a daytime-only license? That's pretty crippling.<<
But a great signal!
...compared to the so-called "community stations".
(And not to mention...legal!)
A vote for the station
Third Decade explains why he hopes the station isn't forced to shut down:
I can't believe no one's mentioned
the movie Pump Up The Volume.