Clear Channel Communications is leading a wave of filings asking the Federal Communications Commission to permit AM radio stations to broadcast over FM translators. Relatively few commenters in this proceeding oppose the plan, but they include the Prometheus Project, aided by attorneys from the Media Access Project.

In mid-July of 2006, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) petitioned the FCC to change its regulations so that AM broadcasters could operate FM translators. A translator is essentially a repeater station that takes a primary station's signal, then boosts and rebroadcasts it. The proposal would limit the FM translator reach to about 25 miles maximum.

Clear Channel's January 7th filing in support of the proposal argues that because many AM stations operate at reduced power during the early morning or evening (in order not to interfere with other AM stations) they are "challenged in providing coverage of local issues, such as school closings, weather emergencies, local election returns, local government meetings and high school sports." Many AM stations also lower or turn off their power at night.

The Federal Communications Commission has issued eight individuals with "notices of unlicensed operation" over the last five days, seven of them from the Lone Star State.

Activists in Texas say that these broadcasters carry programs provided by Radio Free Austin (RFC), an alternative radio service that offers features critical of the U.S. war in Iraq.

The Commission's enforcement bureau sent notices to three residents of Austin and to residents of Dallas, Georgetown, Gonzales, and San Antonio.

The warnings claim that the Commission's agents detected radio broadcasts emanating from the homes of these individuals at 95.7, 90.1, 100.1, and 101.5 MHz.

"UNLICENSED OPERATION OF THIS RADIO STATION MUST BE DISCONTINUED IMMEDIATELY," the FCC notices conclude. "You have ten (10) days from the date of this notice to respond with any evidence that you have authority to operate granted by the FCC."

The FCC fined Haitian broadcaster and activist Sylvane Simon ten thousand dollars today for illegally operating a low power radio station in the Boston area.

The forfeiture order charges Simon with the "willful and repeated" violation of sections of the 1934 Communications Act that forbid operating radio transmission equipment without a license.

Simon is a Haitian expatriate who runs Radio Nouveaute from Mattapan, a Boston neighborhood where many Haitians live. The station's Web site describes the frequency, at 1640AM, as "committed to empower the multi-ethnic community of Mattapan, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Roxbury, Roslindale, Cambridge, Somerville, Medford and their surrounding in attaining social and economic development through their own initiative."

The Federal Communications Commission today fined Philadelphia talk show host Lou Gentile $10,000 for allegedly operating an unlicensed radio station. Gentile runs the Lou Gentile Show, a streaming Web site that broadcasts talk about "paranormal, alternative, unusual and other-than-mainstream topics." He describes himself as an investigator "who has personally experienced ghosts and violent hauntings for over 20 years."

Gentile insists that the charges against him are false. "It's BS," he told lasarletter.com. "It's just ridiculous." He contends that although pirate stations in the Philadelphia area rebroadcast his programs, often aired on licensed AM outlets, he has never run a station himself.

The FCC has closed a popular Caribbean-theme radio station headquartered in Miramar, the Miami Herald reports. Vibez radio offered news, music and talk about Caribbean politics. Its owner won construction permits from the FCC, but lost them due to financial troubles. When Vibez continued broadcasting anyway, police shut the station down.

Anti-piracy legislation that went into effect this year allows authorities to charge unlicensed broadcasters with committing a third degree felony. No one was arrested in the Vibez case, but authorities did seize equipment.