Dr. Dobb's Journal February 1998
With Internet free-speech noise cranked up to crowd levels, it's easy not to hear that our First Amendment rights are under attack on other fronts as well. Ironically, a government agency charged with promoting freedom of speech is, in fact, leading the assault.
In defiance of federal courts, contrary to the Constitution, and at odds with its own charter, the Federal Communications Commission is trying to shut down community radio stations across the country. From Radio Free Allston in Massachusetts, to 88.9 KAW-FM in Kansas, to Free Radio Berkeley in California, FCC agents are threatening operators of unlicensed micropower radio stations with fines and equipment seizures -- even though Congress has instructed the FCC to "encourage the widest possible diversity of broadcasting using the minimum amount of power required."
There are perhaps 300 micropower radio stations in the U.S. (see http://www.radio4all.org/), broadcasting anywhere from 1/4 to 100 watts, and transmitting from one to 25 miles. Since it costs less than $500 for a 1/2-watt broadcasting kit (see http://www.freeradio.org/), micropower stations are well within reach of community groups that can't afford the $100,000 or more to broadcast above 100 watts. The FCC, however, says that radio stations broadcasting under 100 watts can't operate without an FCC license. But in a classic Catch-22, the FCC doesn't grant such licenses. This is the kind of bureaucratic mumbo jumbo former FCC chairman Reed Hundt had in mind when he said FCC regulations for public interest are intellectually untenable and "a meaningless hoax on the American public...an injury to Constitutional standards."
At the heart of the FCC's stance is the possibility that micropower broadcasts might interfere with aircraft safety, even though they haven't been a problem in countries (such as Canada and Japan) that allow low-power stations. More likely, the real reason for the crackdown on community radio stations is pressure from the National Association of Broadcasters -- a cartel of monopolistic media giants that has instructed its members to actively seek out and report unlicensed radio activity. It's only coincidental that the NAB contributed more than $4 million to 1995-96 congressional election campaigns, making it, in the view of Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), "the most powerful lobby...in Washington." It also happens that recently anointed FCC chairman William Kennard started his career as an NAB attorney, later representing broadcasters, cable-television operators, and cellular-telephone providers in private practice.
Although low-power broadcasting has been around for years, it was the FCC's 1993 attack on Stephen Dunifer and Free Radio Berkeley that made airwaves. When the case went to trial in 1995, U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken rejected the FCC's motion for a preliminary injunction after agreeing with Dunifer that the FCC's 1978 ban on low-power, affordable FM broadcasting was a violation of the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.
The FCC went back to Judge Wilken in 1996, seeking a permanent injunction. Judge Wilken's decision to take the case "under advisement" opened the window for micropower broadcasting, and hundreds of stations subsequently went on the air. The FCC persisted, leading Judge Wilken to rebuff (on November 12, 1997) a second motion for an injunction.
Meanwhile, the Internet has given broadcasters (licensed and otherwise) an alternative (or complementary) avenue for information dissemination. Even small FM stations like KCSM-FM (http://www.kcsm.org/), a community-college station just up the hill from DDJ world headquarters, now have global audiences. Broadcasting and netcasting simultaneously in real time, these stations make it possible for you to hear local programming from anywhere in the world -- all you need is decent Internet access, a web browser, some audio plug-ins, and a multimedia PC. (For a list of netcasting radio stations, see http://wmbr.mit.edu/stations/; for a technical backgrounder on what's involved, see "Protocols for Internet Radio," by Robert Burcham at http://www.ddj.com/dddu/1995/1995.07/9507_lea.htm.)
Going one step further, some radio stations are opting for Internet-only netcasting, forgoing equipment expense and FCC hassles altogether. Pseudo Online (http://www.pseudo.com/), for instance, netcasts more than 150 hours of original programming per month via regularly scheduled, weekly one-hour shows (such as the Friday night "Hackerz" program for programmers). In addition to live shows and IRC chat features, Pseudo Online provides archives to past shows -- something broadcast radio can't do. Setting up a netcast station is perhaps easier and less expensive than a micropower broadcast radio station. About all you need is a PC, Internet account, appropriate software (CU-SeeMe, Real Audio, or whatever), audio console, and CD player. For details on what's needed, check out sites such as http://angelfire.com/ak/marconi/ or http://www.hear.com/rw/feature/rrb.htm.
In its drive to mollify corporate string-pullers, the FCC may be creating its own worst nightmare -- hundreds of radio stations over which it has no control. Of course, this presumes that the FCC (or other government agencies) have no interest in controlling the Internet. Right.
--Jonathan Erickson