The Federal Communications Commission is waiting to see if the Federal government will be open on Tuesday, October 1, and David Oxenford at Broadcast Law Blog looks at what might happen. Plus, Russia may be ending its shortwave program, and "Free Speech Radio News" ended theirs Sept. 27.
Produced by Tom Roe at Wave Farms WGXC in New York.
⢠The Federal Communications Commission is waiting to see if the Federal government will be open on Tue., October 1, and David Oxenford at Broadcast Law Blog writes about what might happen. Congress needs to pass a âcontinuing resolutionâ to keep the government running at current levels, and that is in doubt. No plan for a shutdown has been announced yet, but under a plan for 2011, when the government last came within hours of a shutdown, all of the FCCâs workforce would need to go home, and could not perform any functions while the government is closed. "There will be no construction permits issued for new or improved stations, and no grants of other pending applications â including assignments and transfers â meaning that sales of stations would be in limbo for however long the shutdown lasts.... And, in most other shut-downs (or in shutdown planning), the Commissionâs staff was not even allowed to voluntarily do anything related to their official business - so they could not answer emails or phone calls from home, or travel on their own dime to anything related to their official functions," Oxenford wrote in Broadcast Law Blog.
⢠Stopwatching.Us, a coalition of more than 100 public advocacy organizations and companies, including Electronic Frontier Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union, National Libertarian Party, and others are organizing two days -- Oct. 25 and 26 -- of lobbying Congress and a mass rally in Washington D.C. against the surveillance state. Oct. 26, the day of the rally, is the 12th anniversary of the Patriot Act's signing.
⢠RiaNovosti reported last week that Voice of Russia is closing its shortwave service. Now, VOR has released a vague response: âUnfortunately, so far we have no official information as regards the cancellation of shortwave broadcasting. However, we cannot rule out such a scenario for the future, since currently the VOR is speedily introducing modern day technologies of radio and internet broadcasting.â
⢠Free Speech Radio News aired its final broadcast Sept. 27, after beginning in January, 2000, and currently airing on over 90 radio stations.
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