Comment on US | Supreme Court takes case that could strip FCC of authority to issue fines

Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

• WoodScientist@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Honestly, I would support total broadcast anarchy over our current state of affairs.

  Without the FCC, whoever has the loudest transmitter wins. But actually look at the state of over-the-air broadcasts today. The radio stations have all been bought up and monopolized by a handful of companies like iHeartMedia. The broadcast TV stations are also similarly consolidated. Look at all the countless Sinclair stations pumping out endless right wing propaganda.

  Frankly, I would prefer complete anarchy over this. Fines are how the FCC enforces its rules. Without any enforcement, broadcast regulation effectively ceases to exist. At that point, anyone can broadcast whatever they want, and the loudest transmitter wins. Now, maybe you don’t have the budget to build a transmitter that can completely overpower a major commercial radio station. But if that station is several miles away, you could set up a pirate radio station that would drown out a larger commercial station in your local area.

  This is a case where deregulation absolutely would help the people. The broadcast network we have is so hopelessly corrupt that burning the whole thing down would be a massive improvement. I’ll take total anarchy over media monopolies owned by right-wing billionaires.

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  • Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    The problem is that at the point the FCC isn't enforcing things by fine, if you do set up a broadcast antenna, the stations (or as you aptly said, the conglomerates) can sue you for blocking their signal, because they have a contract that says they "own" those bands. And they'll sue you for loss of income, because if they sell less stuff by way of ads, they get less ads in the future, and then it's all downhill.

    The big challenge is, most people now watch TV either through walled-garden streaming platforms (when was the last time you watched an IPTV or IceCast stream?), cable, or satellite.

    Radio might have a hope if you can get it out there, but most of that has been captured by Spotify. It's an ongoing point of contention between my fiancee and me, because I like listening to terrestrial radio and believe that shortwave and HAM are the voices of the people, plus I listen to shoutcast / icecast "stations" regularly, and she pays for Spotify. I can't think of the last time she used the radio built into the infotainment deck in her car instead of beaming her phone to it.

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    • swelter_spark@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      How do they identify who owns the antenna to sue them?

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      • Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Locate the antenna based on signal strength, then trace the power and transmission lines.

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