The full FCC approved a $2.3 million forfeiture against Bronx, New York, pirate radio broadcaster Johnny Peralta, an order released Thursday said. Peralta was operating the pirate station La Mia Radio for years. The Enforcement Bureau initially contacted him in 2018. EB agents have noted La Mia Radio’s continued unauthorized broadcasts ever since, according to a notice of apparent liability in November. Peralta didn’t respond to the NAL, the FCC said. The forfeiture is the maximum allowed under law. “Some of the most egregious pirate radio operations are run by individuals who have ignored prior enforcement actions by the Commission,” the forfeiture order said. “As such, it merits the strongest possible enforcement measures to the fullest extent of the law.” The FCC lacks the power to enforce collecting fines, especially from non-licensees. Only DOJ can bring delinquent forfeiture subjects to court, but broadcasters have told us that the high fine amounts like Peralta’s are expected to make pursuing collection more worthwhile for prosecutors. Peralta couldn’t be reached for comment. The forfeiture order was originally part of the agenda for Wednesday's FCC meeting, though it was listed only as an Enforcement Bureau item, as is typical for enforcement actions. A deletion notice was released late Thursday.
The FCC announced on Thursday it plans to recharter its Disability Advisory Committee for a two-year term and sought nominations for membership, due Sept. 30. The announcement didn’t provide specifics on DAC's focus in the new term. The current DAC is still working, with its next meeting slated for Oct. 18. DAC last met in May (see 2405160051).
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau wants comments by Sept. 3, replies Sept. 16, in docket 03-123 on a petition from accessibility organizations regarding IP-captioned telephone service. TDIforAccess, the National Association of the Deaf and Hearing Loss Association of America sought a reversal of a previous FCC decision letting IP CTS providers "rely exclusively on automatic speech recognition" (see 2406030062). The groups also asked that the FCC require all IP CTS providers give users the option at any point during their call to have a communications assistant generate captions.
Representatives of Incompas and the Cloud Communications Alliance urged the FCC to restructure an NPRM as a notice of inquiry. The NPRM considers consumer protection against AI-generated robocalls. The draft doesn’t “identify or propose any specific technology, making it virtually impossible to meaningfully weigh costs and benefits,” the groups said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 23-363: If, based on comments received, the FCC "commits to specific implementation requirements in a subsequent Report and Order, the two-week window for comment on a public draft would provide industry with insufficient time to respond to detailed proposals or to weigh the costs and obligations associated with deploying AI technologies in their voice service networks.” In addition, the groups said they discussed the importance of IP interconnection to the success of FCC-adopted robocall mitigation and call authentication efforts. The associations met with aides to the five commissioners and staff from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs and Wireline bureaus. Commissioners will vote on it Wednesday (see 2407170055).
Mobile & Wireless Forum (MWF) representatives met with FCC Wireless Bureau staff to discuss e-labeling for hearing-aid compatible phones. MWF considers the limitations in FCC rules “overbroad" and requested a discussion about the issue, a filing posted Thursday in docket 23-388 said. Especially post-COVID-19, “QR codes have become ubiquitous,” the group said: “Their use on packaging to present complicated information that calls for more explanation than there may be space for on physical packaging makes eminent sense.” MWF said e-labeling should be permitted for HAC devices and QR code usage for packaging.
The FCC adopted a revised five-year compensation plan for IP-captioned telephone service supported by the telecom relay service (see 2406180063). In an order Wednesday in docket 03-123, the commission established separate compensation formulas for IP CTS supported by communications assistants (CA) and automatic speech recognition-only. The compensation rate for CA-assisted service will be $1.35 per minute effective immediately through June 30. ASR-only service will transition to a cost-based rate, "allowing providers time to adapt their operations," the order said. The rate for this service will be $1.17 per minute and decrease by about 10% to $1.05 in 2025-26 and to 95 cents in 2026-27. Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington concurred in part with the order. The FCC "should be operating consistent with" the trend of technological innovation, Carr said in a statement. "While my specific suggestions did not make it into the final decision today, I appreciate that my colleagues have included changes that can help incentivize continued, long-term investment in ASR technologies."
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel touted the FCC’s upcoming vote on a proposed Missing and Endangered Persons alert code (see 2407160064). “One week from now, the FCC will vote to make it easier to use television, radio, and wireless phones to sound the alarm about missing and endangered persons,” Rosenworcel said Wednesday at a Women Empowering Women for Indigenous Nations event in Prior Lake, Minnesota. “The action the FCC is taking next week is in direct response to a call sent out by Native communities after enduring a crisis of the missing for far too long.” Rosenworcel said the agency had received “powerful testimony” that “provided a voice for the murdered and missing.”
North East Offshore is dropping its request for an FCC waiver of the freeze on nonfederal applications for new or expanded Part 90 operations in the lower 3 GHz band. The renewable energy company notified the agency that it’s modifying its application to “specify frequencies outside the 3.1-3.3 GHz band, which will eliminate the need” for the FCC to consider a waiver. The request ran into opposition from the wireless and cable industries, which filed comments posted Thursday in docket 24-212. The comments underscore the perceived importance of lower 3 GHz spectrum for 5G and beyond.
A coalition of 31 consumer and public interest advocacy groups urged the FCC to move forward with its NPRM under circulation regarding bulk broadband billing in multi-tenant environments. The groups, which included Public Knowledge, Consumer Reports, Consumer Action, National Consumer Law Center and New America's Open Technology Institute, told the FCC in a letter that bulk billing arrangements "sacrifice consumer choice to preserve in-building monopolies at the expense of tenants." The letter was posted Thursday in docket 17-142.
The Senate Appropriations Committee cleared a pair of FY 2025 funding bills Thursday that maintain advance CPB money for FY 2027 and increase annual allocations to the FCC and FTC in excess of their FY 2024 budget. The House Appropriations Committee approved its versions of the FY25 bills covering those agencies, but Republican chamber leaders have delayed floor consideration of both measures amid shifting legislative priorities (see 2407230038).