From: The_Beat@bitstream.mpls.mn.us (The Beat)
Newsgroups: alt.radio.pirate
Subject: MN Broadcasters Ass'n scare fax
Date: 28 Apr 1998 20:27:23 GMT
 

MINNESOTA BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION
3517 Raleigh Avenue, P.O. Box 10630 - St. Louis Park, MN 55416-0030
(612) 926-8123 - fax (612) 926-9761
MN Toll Free 1-800-245-5838
 

TO: Station Managers
FR: Jim du Bois
DT: April 27,1998
RE: Microbroadcasting Comments
 

*****Important: Please Read Immediately*****
 

The FCC is currently accepting comments on several proposals to establish a
low-power "microbroadcasting" radio service. Under the guise of the First
Amendment, proponents of this service argue that current licensing procedures
deny free speech rights to the thousands of individuals who desire a
broadcasting station but cannot acquire one. Many of the individuals also
argue that consolidation in the radio industry is severely limiting the
diversity of programming and is contrary to the public interest.

The Washington, DC-based law firm of Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza
has drafted comments opposing microbroadcasting on behalf of several state
broadcasting associations, including the MBA. These comments are being filed
with the FCC today.

Attacking the arguments of the microbroadcasting advocates, the comments warn
of the danger of creating a vast new category of hobby "broadcasters" who
would jam the airwaves and potentially cause interference to full-power
broadcasters and aviation frequencies. Creating a microbroadcasting service
would, according the comments, amount to the "CB-ization" of radio and would
create a regulatory nightmare for the FCC.

Broadcasters need to watch this issue closely. FCC Chairman Bill Kennard is
sympathetic to the would-be microbroadcasters' cause, and he may have an ally
in Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth. You may wish to file your own
comments regarding this proposal. Correspondence sent to the FCC after today
should be labled [sic] as "reply comments" in reference to FCC File RM-9208
and RM-9242. Send your comments to FCC, Room 222, 1919 M Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20554.

You may also want to educate your members of Congress on this issue. Consult
the MBA's March and April newsletters for more information on the various
microbroadcasting proposals. You should avoid arguments suggesting that the
proposed new service would create more competition; rather, you should
emphasize the interference and regulatory problems microbroadcasting would
certainly generate. Please forward your FCC comments or any correspondence
with your congressional delegation to the MBA office.

Thank you for your cooperation.
_____________________________________________

posted FYI by Beat Radio
Minneapolis MN
-- end of forwarded message --