[Noisebridge-discuss] Pirate Cat Radio transmitter in need of new home

[Naomi Most]

Oh, and I should note that the FCC has cashed all our checks.  :)

On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 4:56 PM, Naomi Most <pnaomi at gmail.com> wrote:

> Ok, Seth, let's get into the nitty gritty.  :)
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 3:43 PM, Seth David Schoen <schoen at loyalty.org>wrote:
>
>> It seems clear to me that the 47 CFR 73.3542 authority PCR mentions
>> requires you to make an application to the FCC.
>
>
>
> Actually, we have, several times.  The first time, we sent a letter
> describing the legislation and what we were doing.  They sent us back the
> standard cease-and-desist warning they've been handing out since before
> 2001.
>
> We wrote back with another application, a check for $100, and another copy
> of the legislation.
>
> This cycle has occurred several times.  As Monkey says, "We see them as
> fix-it tickets."
>
>
>
> Although you might be reading the sentence:
>>>
>>
>>  Authority is granted, on a temporary basis, in extraordinary
>>  circumstances requiring emergency operation to serve the public
>>  interest
>>
>> as a grant of authority, I think it is intended as a description
>> of the circumstances in which authority _might_ be granted subject
>> to the other requirements of the section, all of which seem to
>> presuppose that a written request would be filed with the FCC and
>> that the FCC would then act on the request.
>>
>> This is an interesting case of ambiguity between performative and
>> constative sentences in legislative texts.
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performative_utterance
>>
>>
>
> Mmm, Rhetoric.  My bread and butter.
>
>
>
>
>> You can make either kind of reading clear here by adding either the
>> word "sometimes" or "hereby".
>>
>> Performative:
>>
>>  Authority is hereby granted, on a temporary basis, in extraordinary
>>  circumstances requiring emergency operation to serve the public
>>  interest.
>>
>> Constative:
>>
>>  Authority is sometimes granted, on a temporary basis, in extraordinary
>>  circumstances requiring emergency operation to serve the public
>>  interest.
>>
>> I think only the latter reading is plausible in context, because the
>> section goes on to talk about how people request this authority, how
>> the FCC decides whether to grant it, and how the FCC can revoke it.
>>
>
>
> The problem is, I'm willing to bet we've been the only organization so far
> that's actually tried to operate within the bounds of this legislation and
> work with them on it.
>
> I don't think they actually had or currently have any organizational
> process set up around honoring this legislation when the Bush administration
> made it so.
>
> --Naomi
>
>
>


-- 
---
Naomi Most
Producer
Little Moving Pictures

+1-415-728-7490
naomi at littlemovingpictures.com
skype: nthmost

http://twitter.com/nthmost
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