[FPARC] FLORIDA HAMS AT RISK OF ARREST FOR INTERFERENCE

[Bill Sinbine]

NEWS -

FLORIDA HAMS AT RISK OF ARREST FOR INTERFERENCE -

On Feb 25, 2005 the American Radio Relay League ("ARRL") filed with the
Commission, a Request for Declaratory Ruling asking that the Florida radio
interference ("RFI") law (Florida Statute 877.27) be made null and void by
the FCC invoking federal preemption. You can read the ARRL filing at their
website -
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/03/01/4/?nc=1

You can help Florida hams strike down this law at the FCC by asking that
the FCC (WTB) rule quickly and decisively on the above Request for
Declaratory Ruling, filed by the ARRL, since we hams feel we are in peril,
due to this ill-conceived and overly broad and vague Florida law.  The ARRL
filing made it exceedingly clear that States have no jurisdiction in this
matter, only the federal government (FCC).

With this Florida law receiving more and more publicity, it is just a
matter of time until someone calls their local police on an interference
complaint against a ham radio operator.  In the past, such an interference
complaint could be ably handled by trained FCC personnel, equipped to
determine if the ham's equipment was clean and operating within the rules.
Now, under this Florida "RFI" law, someone can merely call their local
police or sheriff's department, and the ham radio operator would be
arrested, booked and charged with a third-degree felony, which carries a
penalty of five-years in jail and up to a $500,000 fine!  "RFI" matters
simply cannot be left up to a local police department. They lack
jurisdiction. We all need to tell the FCC that to wait until an innocent
ham radio operator is arrested, to test the law in court,  is UNACCEPTABLE
to the ham radio community. Already there is talk of other states, like New
Jersey, implementing their own similar radio interference laws. Before
long, every State will have their own radio laws, if this Florida law is
left to stand.

Here is a recent example of how this Florida law has already gotten out of
hand and abused an innocent citizen. A Florida used car dealer is innocent
but yet pled guilty to a lesser crime just "to get it over with", according
to his attorney.  Today a used car dealer is abused by this horrible law,
tomorrow it could be a ham radio operator!

This article from the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel newspaper shows what I mean.
South Florida Sun - Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: Nov 24, 2005. 
pg. 3.B

Eight months after being charged with broadcasting an unauthorized radio
transmission -- a felony -- a Palm Beach Gardens man pleaded guilty
Wednesday to a lesser charge.
The Federal Communications Commission and Lake Worth police began
investigating in February after someone reported picking up a rogue
broadcast on their radio, according to Assistant State Attorney Tim
Beckwith. The radio pirate broadcast two underground Haitian music
stations, according to officials.
Authorities charged the owner of the tower, Panagiotis Frangiskakis, 46,
but were unable to locate the person who was pirating the signal. The tower
that was used to transmit the signal had been erected years before by a cab
company that used it to dispatch drivers, Beckwith said. Frangiskakis owns
a used car lot in Lake Worth on the same property where the tower stood
before it was destroyed as part of the negotiated plea agreement.
The other terms of the plea to a misdemeanor charge of attempted unlawful
transmission or interference with a radio station approved by Circuit Judge
Jorge Labarga included a year of probation and 25 hours of community
service. Frangiskakis also will make two donations of $1,425 each to the
communications department at the Dreyfoos School of the Arts and the
nonprofit American Music Conference in Carlsbad, Calif. The amount equals
what Frangiskakis collected in rent from the person who pirated the radio
signal.
"[Frangiskakis] is a businessman and someone wanted to use his tower,"
defense attorney Scott Richardson said. "He leased it to him and he wasn't
aware they didn't have an FCC license. The person who really should be
prosecuted is the person operating an illegal radio station. Mr.
Frangiskakis agreed to plead guilty just to get it behind him."
Though it has long been illegal to operate a radio station without an FCC
license, the 2004 law under which Frangiskakis was charged is a broader
statute that makes it illegal to enable someone to do so, Richardson said.
Had Frangiskakis been convicted as charged, he faced a five-year prison
term and a $500,000 fine. The FCC has investigated about 500 similar cases
throughout South Florida, Beckwith said, though most were in Miami-Dade and
Broward counties. He said Frangiskakis' is the first known local
prosecution since the law was enacted last year.
According to Beckwith, the concerns about pirated signals are three-fold:
the signal could interfere with air traffic controllers, it could affect
radio signals used by law enforcement during hostage negotiations and it is
a crime to steal a licensed station's air space. (End of Article)

You can help Florida hams avoid arrest by sending an email to the Wireless
Telecommunications Bureau at the FCC and telling them that the ARRL Request
for Declaratory Ruling to make this Florida law null and void should be
granted immediately. Send your email to: (WTB) Public Safety & Critical
Infrastructure Division (PSCID)
Michael Wilhelm/ Division Chief
His email address is:
  Michael.Wilhelm at fcc.gov



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73, Bill Sinbine
n4xeo at bellsouth.net