Two items involving foreign ownership that were adopted by the FCC last week will have an impact on broadcasters.
Attorneys Gregg Skall and Dennis Corbett of Telecommunications Law Professionals have posted details to help stations understand the implications.
First, stations will have new attestations to file and a new portal to file them in.
The commission will require broadcast licensees, among others, to file these attestations regarding whether their ownership structure involves “foreign adversary control.” That term for the FCC refers to people or organizations from, among others, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Russia.
Skall and Corbett write that the commission is categorizing each type of license and permit into one of three schedules. Broadcasters will be required to enter certain ownership information into a new consolidated portal called the Foreign Adversary Control System. The attestations and additional disclosures will be made available to the public.
The portal has not been established yet, nor have due dates been announced.
The FCC also streamlined and clarified the foreign ownership rules for broadcasters and other FCC licensees that file petitions for declaratory ruling under Section 310(b) of the Communications Act.
These are petitions from entities with foreign ownership in excess of regular limits who want approval to hold certain regulated licenses, including broadcast licenses. In the order, the FCC codified its practices and explained how these rules affect the processing of broadcast license applications and how they apply to non-commercial, educational and low-power FM stations.
