The Federal Communications Commission’s Licensing and Management System is currently out of service following an apparent glitch Wednesday that exposed more than 100 confidential noncommercial translator applications.
It’s not known whether the outage is a result of the breach or due to overload from the ongoing translator filing window. But the outage prevents stations and preparers from submitting additional applications until LMS is restored.
Radio World reached out to FCC Media Relations and its Audio Division for comment.
FCC application data from the NCE FM translator filing window initially became viewable on Wednesday morning. The Media Bureau appeared to address the initial breach around 12 p.m. Wednesday, according to Michelle Bradley of REC Networks.
[Related: “Noncom Groups Request Extension of FCC FM Translator Window”]
Bradley estimated that approximately 170 applications were exposed before that initial fix.
Later Wednesday, Bradley identified a second method to view confidential filings, which staff also patched. By Thursday morning, however, Bradley reported on her Substack that pending applications could still be accessed through a third workaround.
Bradley, whose REC Networks platforms (including fccdata.com and fcc.today) track commission filings and database activity closely, called the data exposure “egregious.”
As we reported, when the FCC announced the reserved-band translator window, the commission stated that applications filed during the open period would not be publicly viewable until after the window closed. The policy follows historical practice for broadcast windows and is designed to protect applicant strategy and site selection from competitors while the filing window remains open.
Bradley pointed out that this is not the first time LMS has failed to suppress confidential filings. During the 2023 LPFM filing window, another vulnerability allowed users to view pending applications, leading to commission patches and a short extension of the filing deadline. A similar data breach occurred during the 2021 NCE full-service FM filing window.
“As you can see, since its inception, LMS has had a very dismal record in protecting the integrity of filing windows,” Bradley wrote.
Bradley emphasized that the recurring vulnerabilities are not unique to current commission leadership, arguing that the system’s technical flaws trace back to its initial development in the early 2010s.
With LMS offline and no daily database text dumps released for Wednesday or Thursday, Bradley urged the commission to grant an extension of the translator filing window.
She also requested that the FCC Video Division pause all grants involving television facilities on Channel 6 or waivers related to protecting secondary low-power TV and TV translator stations until the data dumps are restored.
Due to the security breach, Bradley said she has chosen to withhold filing applications for her clients, despite the risk of losing lower file numbers.
“In this case, we have to choose between having a lower file number and our applications exposed or having privacy and a more fair experience,” Bradley wrote.
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