Re: Okay, defendant Louis Gentile of "4727 Oakmont Street in Philadelphia, PA" is a goofball but $10,000?
> $10,000?! Come on! That's ridiculous. At least in this
> case, the FCC is trying to enforce an actual and existing
> rule instead of pretending to be the country's morality
> police. But $10,000 seems a bit excessive, no?
No, it isn't. It's what is called for under the federal statute. And it might just send a message to others thinking about doing the same thing. Frankly, I'm glad the FCC is finally getting around to busting some of these illegal broadcasters.
>
> I do love how "Mr. Gentile, who resides at 4727 Oakmont
> Street, Philadelphia, PA"* said it was he doing it...and
> then said it must be someone else--even though he has an
> antenna on his roof! It's a pretty entertaining situation.
> A bit like Spy vs. Spy. Remember them?
>
> Anyway, what was "Mr. Gentile, who resides at 4727 Oakmont
> Street, Philadelphia, PA" allegedly* broadcasting?
I don't care, to be honest, if he was reciting Mother Goose on a loop. It is not the content that got him into trouble, but rather the fact he chose to operate on the commercial FM band without a license. Pure and simple.
> And was
> it even strong enough to interfere with anything else?
Again, it doesn't matter. If the law means anything, it must be enforced.
> And
> why did the FCC have to keep using his name and address in
> the filing? Seems like a humiliation tactic but maybe it's
> legalese.
It is, in fact, typical legal language used in many documents...such as criminal indictments and affadavits of probable cause.
To sum up...it's one thing to debate the pros and cons of broadcasting on a forum such as this. Even play pseudo-PD, if you'd like. If you want to play DJ...set up a web site and knock yourself out. But pirate broadcasters are lawbreakers. Nothing less. Want to broadcast? Get a license, even an LPFM. But operate under the law.
My guess here is this will not be a popular opinion on this board. So be it.