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http://artcon.rutgers.edu/papertiger/nyfma/default.html

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For Immediate Release


For More Info Call
Free Speech/ STR Hotline: 212. 358-5774


FREE SPEECH VS. THE FCC
Unlicensed Community Radio Station Returns to the Airwaves and Announces
Lawsuit after Threatened with Raid

Members of "Steal This Radio," an unlicensed radio station in Lower
Manhattan, will switch their transmitter ON at a public press conference
at
noon on Wednesday, April 15 at the George Washington statue at 26 Wall
Street and Nassau. On the same day, FREE SPEECH will file a lawsuit
against
the FCC for violations of its constitutional rights.

In defense of First Amendment rights, an organization called FREE
SPEECH,
composed of members and listeners of STEAL THIS RADIO, is filing a suit
against the FCC for violations of the First Amendment. "We want the
world
to know that the first amendment is not rhetorical, but real. We want
the
world to know that free speech and the FCC are at odds with one another,
and if this country is still about democracy, that FREE SPEECH will
win,"
says Robert Perry, the group's attorney.

On Thursday, March 5th, an agent of the FCC visited the neighborhood of
STEAL THIS RADIO and threatened to raid the station with Federal
Marshals
if the station was not "brought into code," which means broadcasting no
more than 200 feet. The agent claimed that he was responding to a signal
interference complaint made by Hofstra University's radio station, WRHU.
When WRHU was contacted to verify the FCC's claim, station manager Bruce
Avery stated that no formal complaint had been made on behalf of the
station, nor was he aware of any signal interference. Moreover, he said,
the Lower East Side is not part of WRHU's "primary or secondary signal
contour".

The FCC's move to shut down Steal this Radio is part of a nationwide
crackdown on micropower radio in an attempt to silence community groups
accessing the airwaves for non-commercial cultural, social, and civic
purposes. Despite recent statements by FCC Chairman Kennard that express
interest in diversifying the airwaves via micropower radio, and his
concern
over the increasing concentration of corporate ownership of radio
stations,
in practice the FCC has stepped up its attack on unlicensed stations.

The number of unlicensed radio stations has steadily increased since the
FCC abolished the low-watt license category in 1978. More than 1,000
micro-broadcasting stations are currently on the air nationwide, and are
active in a movement to enable community groups to access the
publicly-owned airwaves without fear of harassment, fines or
imprisonment.
In solidarity with the movement, three stations which the FCC has
recently
harassed are going back on the air on April 15: Steal This Radio, Radio
Free Allston in Allston, Massachusetts, and 87x in Tampa, Florida.

"Corporate consolidation trends in media have greatly narrowed the scope
of
what kind of news and music is available on the FM dial," said DJ
Chrome.
"As ever more New Yorkers become frustrated with this corporate
homogenization, the need for community radio stations which reflect the
diversity and culture of our neighborhoods increases. This is about
civil
rights, about a growing movement to challenge the injustice of the
Federal
government. The case is clear. This is about Free Speech versus the
FCC."


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Paper Tiger Television
339 Lafayette Street                       fax: (212) 420-8223
New York, NY 10012                     email: tigertv@bway.net
phone: (212) 420-9045           web: http://www.papertiger.org
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