September 2007
This Broadcast Station EEO Advisory is directed to radio and television stations licensed to communities in: Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Missouri, Oregon, Washington, as well as American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and highlights the upcoming deadlines for compliance with the FCC’s EEO rule.
July 2006
The FCC’s new “junk fax” rules, which were adopted on April 6, 2006 pursuant to the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005 (“Fax Act”), will take effect on August 1, 2006.
The Commission’s junk fax rules generally prohibit for-profit, as well as non-profit, entities from sending facsimile “advertisements” — broadly construed — to recipients that have not given their “prior express invitation or permission.” Notwithstanding this general prohibition, the new rules provide that where the sender of a facsimile advertisement maintains an “established business relationship” (“EBR”) with the intended recipient, the advertisement will not be deemed “unsolicited.” The new rules also confirm that other forms of “prior express invitation or permission” will render the general prohibition inapplicable. To the extent that a sender transmits facsimile advertisements on a regular or even occasional basis, it should be aware of the requirements of the new rules.
April 2006
On June 29, the FCC will begin one of its biggest spectrum auctions ever. The FCC will auction a total of 1,122 licenses in 90 MHz of spectrum at 1710-1755 MHz and 2110-2155 MHz, known as Advanced Wireless Services (“AWS”) or Third Generation (“3G”) spectrum. This is the largest auction of spectrum for wireless services since the auction of Personal Communications Services (“PCS”) licenses in the mid-1990s.
Comm Law Center