Given that the FCC adopted its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to establish the parameters of its much-anticipated broadcast spectrum auctions on September 28, 2012, and released the text of that NPRM on October 2, 2012, you would think that the communications industry would now be buzzing over the details of…
Articles Posted by Scott R. Flick
FCC Enforcement Monitor
September 2012 Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others. This month’s issue includes: FCC Follows Up a $25,000 Fine With a $236,500 Fine Two Tower Owners Fined for Fading Paint FCC…
Rabbit Season? Duck Season? No, Lowest Unit Charge Season!
In what seems to be the longest presidential campaign in history, tomorrow, September 7th, marks the beginning of the final stretch. That’s the first day of Lowest Unit Charge Season, the 60-day period before the November 6th, 2012 general election. During that time (which also occurs in the 45 days…
FCC Enforcement Monitor
July 2012 Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others. This month’s issue is a special issue regarding recent FCC actions that provide a detailed (and expensive) look at Section 73.1206, the…
FCC Enforcement Monitor
July 2012 Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others. This month’s issue includes: FCC Assesses $68,000 in Fines for Unauthorized STL Operations EAS Failures Lead to $8,000 Fine Licensee in Wyoming…
FCC Enforcement Monitor
June 2012 Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others. This month’s issue includes: Long-Term Violation of an FCC Order Leads to $25,000 Forfeiture FCC Issues $10,000 Fines for Obstruction Lighting Violations…
Supreme Court Kicks the Indecency Can Down the Road
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that it would like to have as little to do with the FCC’s broadcast indecency policy as possible. Rather than the momentous ruling on the constitutional future of broadcast indecency enforcement that advocates on all sides of the issue had…
If the Broadcast/Newspaper Cross-Ownership Rule Falls, Will It Make a Sound?
While the perennial cliche is that the FCC is perpetually behind the curve in trying to keep up with new communications technologies, my experience has been that the FCC and its staff are pretty up to date on these developments. As a result, when we see a rule remain on…
FCC Enforcement Monitor
May 2012 Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others. This month’s issue includes: FCC Fines Noncommercial Educational Station $12,500 for Ads Public Inspection File Violations Lead to Three Short Term License…
Death, Taxes and Voluntary Spectrum Auctions
The FCC created a stir in the broadcast community when, after proclaiming for more than a year that surrendering broadcast channels for the planned broadband spectrum auction would be entirely voluntary, it began to “volunteer” Class A stations it concluded had not complied with all FCC rules. I first raised…