[BC] No time for pirates

[Rob Landry]

On Sat, 19 Jul 2014, James Potter wrote:

> I don't know about that. There are plenty of NALs of pirate stations. 
> They do what they can, and they take their policy directions from the 
> Prez and Congress.  The FCC isn't an independent free-range chicken.

Actually, it is. Congress can pass a law directing the FCC to do things 
such as renewing RKO General's license for WOR-TV in New York, err, 
Secaucus, or mandating that licenses be sold to the highest bidder rather 
than awarded thoughtfully considering the public interest, but passing a 
law is not an easy thing to do and is fairly rare. There's no one in 
Congress who can otherwise give the FCC marching orders, and neither can 
the President, whose role is limited to nominating FCC commissioners, 
subject to the consent of the Senate.

Practically, the FCC is a free-range chicken, limited only by the amount 
Congress may budget for chicken feed.

> There are a lot of good engineers and lawyers at that agency, and I 
> admire and respect them.  One man's opinion.

That's true. Alas, they do not seem to be the people who make policy.

Rob