Pirate Facility Draws $10,000 FCC Fine
October 21, 2009: The FCC has issued a $10,000 forfeiture order to Jean Clerveau and Jocelyn Edwards of Brooklyn for "providing services and facilities incidental to the operation of an unlicensed radio transmitter" on 90.5 FM.
In March 2008, an FCC agent investigating an interference complaint tracked an errant signal on 90.5 to an apartment building in Brooklyn. After field measurements and further investigation, the agent found an antenna on the roof of the building and a cable leading into a second-floor apartment. The building manager later said the apartment belonged to Edwards and Clerveau.
The FCC sent a letter to the pair ordering them to stop operating the unlicensed station and made attempts at a followup investigation at the apartment. They ultimately found Clerveau at home, when he said he wasn't aware of a station operating from the apartment but there were other people living there. The agents reported that they didn't see any radio equipment in the apartment at that time, and the antenna had been removed.
A notice of apparent liability for $10,000 went to Edwards and Clerveau in October of last year, and they responded by saying that the pirate station was really based at a building across the street. The FCC declined to take their word for it absent any other evidence that its agents were mistaken and has now affirmed the fine.
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