FREE RADIO BERKELEY Update:
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Note* - After three years in the courts, a US federal judge granted the FCC a permanent injunction against Free Radio Berkeley last week. The FCC falsely believes that by cracking down on  the stations they perceive as being the leaders of the Free Radio movement, such as Free Radio Berkeley and Radio Mutiny, they will stop the movement. This type of thing has worked for the government in the past. It will not work now. The airwaves belong to the people of the United States and we intend to use them.

The following message is distributed at the request of a Free Radio Berkeley broadcaster

-- the editors
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We held an emergency meeting Tuesday, June 16th, where it was decided to
immediately go off the air in the face of the federal injunction being
issued. This was done to protect our on-air staff, our landlord, and our
equipment. (Also, Richard Edmondson and San Francisco Liberation Radio went
off the air voluntarily, as well.)
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-A collective press release is in the works and will be distributed to the
media (and this list) in the next couple days along with Stephen Dunifer's
own press release.
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-We will continue broadcasting (on the Internet with a streaming audio feed
at www.freeradio.org) with our current on-air staff line-up. This will
happen sometime this week.
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-Luke Hiken and Alan Hopper, Dunifer's attorneys, will be filing a motion
challenging the ruling. This will happen within the week.
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-Here is the relevant passage from Judge Wilken's June 16, 1998 ruling:

 "For the foregoing reasons, the United States motion for summary judgement
must  be granted. Accordingly, Mr. Dunifer and all persons in active
concert or  participation with him are hereby enjoined:

 (a) from making transmissions within the United States unless and until
they  first obtain a license from the FCC;

 (b) from doing any act, whether direct or indirect, to cause unlicensed
radio  transmissions or to enable such radio transmissions to occur.

 Judgement shall enter for plaintiff [FCC]. Each party shall bear its own
costs.

 It is so ordered,

 Claudia Wilken, U.S. District Judge"

(The full text of the ruling will be available shortly at our website
<www.freeradio.org>. Click on 'Legal'.)

Possible criminal sanctions for violating a federal injunction are being
researched, but initial consensus ranges from a slap on the wrist to up to
3 years imprisonment.
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-Civil disobebdience opening salvo-

'Two unidentified males' broadcast from the Berkeley hills on Sunday, June
21, at 8pm on 104.1 FM and were visited by the FCC after only 20 minutes of
being on the air. The station stayed live for about 10 additional minutes
while they attempted to interview the FCC agents. (No luck.) No
identification was provided by the 'two unidentified males' despite
repeated requests from the FCC agents. A 'Notice of Unlicensed Radio
Operation' was given to the 'two unidentified males'. A field survey was
taken by the agents and a clean technical bill of health was noted, ie., no
spurious radio signals or interference was observed. The radio gear was NOT
confiscated and the two were allowed to leave peaceably. It is unknown
whether any additional enforcement action will be attempted against these
two individuals. (It is my understanding that they have secured potential
legal help in case this comes to pass.) I am also told that the audio of
this broadcast should be up on the <www.radio4all.org> site shortly.
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A 'National Day of Protest/Action' is in the works. Stephen Dunifer will be
coordinating efforts in this area. He can be reached at 510-464-3041 or
<frbspd@crl.com>
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Liberate the airwaves!

Respectfully submitted,

An FRB member