[Nettime-nl] enige hoop voor de vrije radio?

[Arthur Elsenaar <artelse@mohr-i.nl>]

Dag,

zojuist te lezen op Yahoo dat de FCC (Federal Communications  
Commission) in de US een aanbeveling doet om kleine radiostations toe  
te staan die de 'gaten' in het spectrum tussen de grote stations kunnen  
vullen. Nu kan ik mij herinneren dat er door onze minister in deze  
kwestie gezegt werd dat er voor community radio in Nederland geen  
plaats zou zijn.

Kan iemand dit bericht even aan hem forwarden?

Arthur

FCC: Congress Should Lift FM Restrictions

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=512&e=4&u=/ap/20040221/ 
ap_on_go_co/very_local_radio

Fri Feb 20, 7:02 PM ET

Add Politics - U. S. Congress to My Yahoo!

By JONATHAN D. SALANT, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON -  Low-power FM radio stations serving highly specific  
audiences in small areas don't interfere with broadcasts by large  
stations, federal regulators said Friday.

  They said Congress should lift restrictions limiting the number of  
tiny stations that broadcast to neighborhoods instead of cities or  
regions.

  The low-power stations "do not pose a significant risk of causing  
interference to existing full-service FM stations," the Federal  
Communications Commission (news - web sites) said in the report ordered  
by Congress in 2000. Nor do the stations interfere with special  
narration services for the visually impaired, the FCC (news - web  
sites) said.

  Commercial broadcasters and public radio stations complained that  
low-power stations would interfere with their signals. Congress  
responded by setting strict buffers on the radio dial between the  
low-power stations and existing broadcasters, which in effect severely  
limited the number of tiny stations. However, lawmakers also told the  
FCC to study interference.

  Proponents of the small stations say low-power radio helps bring  
diverse voices to the airwaves as a counterbalance to the increased  
consolidation of commercial stations.

  There are about 300 low-powered stations on the air. Many are licensed  
to churches. Other license-holders include school districts, youth  
organizations, highway departments, environmentalists and fans of folk  
music.

  By comparison, the nation's largest chain, Clear Channel, owns 1,200  
stations.

  The FCC originally proposed licensing as many as 1,000 low-power  
stations, which have a range of four to seven miles and operate at  
between 10 and 100 watts. Conventional FM stations can go up to 100,000  
watts and be heard more than 50 miles away.

  An official of the Media Access Project, a telecommunications law firm  
supportive of low-power radio, hailed the FCC study.

  "After significant expense by the taxpayers, the scientists have  
reported on the same laws of physics that have always existed," deputy  
director Cheryl Leanza said. "These tiny radio stations are no threat  
to the current broadcast system. It is now time for Congress to take  
action based on that analysis."

  A spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters dismissed the  
study as flawed. "Local radio listeners should not be subjected to the  
inevitable interference that would result from shoehorning more  
stations onto an already overcrowded radio dial," spokesman Dennis  
Wharton said.

  ___

  On the Net:

  Federal Communications Commission: http://www.fcc.gov


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