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Broadcast Law Review
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Legal implications of the latest developments at the FCC and on Capitol Hill that affect your radio operation, from Harry Cole of Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, P.L.C. and other experts.
Until our new data system is fully integrated, please
click here
for articles prior to September 1, 2006.
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Keeping Tabs: Public File 101
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My Real-World Advice on What to Keep and What to Toss, and When
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by Chuck Bullett, 4.23.2008
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If keeping a historical archive is important to you, I recommend establishing a separate archive altogether for such material, or even enlisting a representative of your local historical society to take charge of such material for you.
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Radio: ‘We Already Do Localism’
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Proposed Regulations Are Seen By Broadcasters As Simply Turning Back the Clock
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by Randy J. Stine, 3.12.2008
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The recommendations include requiring stations to establish permanent advisory boards and to carry a mandatory amount of public service programming.
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What Bugs Me About ‘Localism’
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Cole Commentary: The Urge to Embrace Program Regulation May Seem Irresistible But It’s One the FCC Should Avoid
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by Harry Cole, 2.01.2008
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The FCC has turned into Mr. Peabody, ushering all of us Shermans into the Wayback Machine so that we can re-live the halcyon days of regulation.
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Are FM Translators A Lock for AM Stations?
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FCC Considers Rule Change as AM Stations Seek Relief
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by Randy J. Stine, 1.16.2008
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Hundreds of AM broadcasters eventually could take advantage of proposed rules changes that will allow them to retransmit their programming on FM translators, industry analysts say.
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Will 24/7 Station Staffing Be Required?
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Broadcasters Oppose Potential Change in Rules Covering Unattended Operation
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1.02.2008
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The FCC is reviewing public comments in the IBOC proceeding with an eye towards changing or adding to public interest obligations for digital broadcasters.
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Tolling: Escrows Ad Infinitum
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Selling a Station: There’s a New (Arm) Twist in the Tolling Saga
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by Harry Cole, 1.02.2008
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We here at Cole’s Law would like to report that an end to the Tolling Agreement/Escrow saga is in sight. Instead, we can report only that the tolling regime is in place and, if you can imagine this, is getting even more out of control.
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OK, Some ABCs About the FCC’s CDBS
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It’s Easy to Misuse This Online Tool — as Some Stations Have Found to Their Dismay
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by Harry F. Cole and Jeffrey J. Gee, 9.12.2007
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Any sensible person, after reviewing the basic literature (you know, classics like “Tron,” “2001 — A Space Odyssey,” “I, Robot” or “WarGames”) must realize a basic truth about modern society: Computers are evil.
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Show Me the Public File
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Missouri Study Finds 20% of Stations Fail to Produce Issues-Programs Lists Upon Demand
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by Mark Smith and Elizabeth Clark, 9.12.2007
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Although a majority of Missouri radio stations complied with Public Inspection File requests in a recent study, one in five licensees failed to produce Issues-Programs Lists upon demand during station visits.
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Not Worth the Paper It’s Printed On?
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Compliance Plans Can Prevent Enforcement Problems But Only if Actively and Effectively Implemented
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by David H. Solomon, 2.01.2007
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In case after case before the FCC, companies argue that there shouldn't be enforcement action against them, or that any enforcement action should be less stringent, because they fixed the problem as soon as the FCC told them about it.
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Increased Indecency Fines Take Effect
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Being indecent has become obscenely expensive.
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by Harry F. Cole and Jeffrey J. Gee, 8.16.2006
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President Bush recently signed the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, increasing the potential fines for broadcasting indecent material by a factor of 10. The former max - a mere pittance at $32,500 per violation - is history. Now you're looking at a much heftier $325,000 per violation, up to a limit of $3 million per day.
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Test Your Indecency Knowledge
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by John Crigler, 7.05.2006
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What's your Indecency IQ?
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New Rulings, Murky Waters
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by David H. Solomon, 4.20.2006
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After a year of inaction regarding indecency and profanity, on a single day in March the FCC decided indecency and profanity complaints involving a record 51 different program episodes or advertisements and took a record $4.5 million in enforcement action.
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