FCC Record, Volume 28, No. 14, Pages 10740 to 11616, July 23 - August 6, 2013 Page: 10,745
viii, 10740-11616 p. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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support TSA's assertion that payment of the forfeiture would negatively impact station operations, we
decline to reduce the proposed forfeiture on this basis.37
9. We also decline to reduce the forfeiture based on TSA's assertion that it took corrective
action after being notified of the expiration of its station license,38 and that it took "affirmative steps" after
the issuance of the NAL to ensure future compliance with the Rules.39 While TSA's compliance efforts
are laudable, the Commission has repeatedly held that remedial measures implemented after the initiation
of an investigation or the issuance of an enforcement action neither nullifies nor mitigates the violation.40
10. Finally, TSA asserts that it has a history of compliance with the Rules that warrants a
reduction of the proposed forfeiture.41 We disagree. When evaluating a petitioner's compliance history,
we take into account the number of violations (including concurrent violations)42 and their duration.43
In this instance, TSA operated station KSC8 after the expiration of the station's license and without
authorization for approximately five years." Based on the extended duration of TSA's operation
37 As stated in the NAL, the Commission will not consider a claim of inability to pay unless the petitioner submits
"(1) federal tax returns for the most recent three-year period; (2) financial statements prepared according to
generally accepted accounting practices; or (3) some other reliable and objective documentation that accurately
reflects the petitioner's current financial status." NAL, 23 FCC Rcd at 7642, para. 16; see also, e.g., Bureau
D 'Electronique Appliquee, Inc., Forfeiture Order, 20 FCC Rcd 17893, 17899-900, para. 19 (Enf. Bur. 2005)
(forfeiture paid) (declining to reduce the forfeiture amount in the absence of adequate documentation supporting an
inability to pay claim, despite petitioner's claims that payment of the forfeiture would result in "'grave consequences
to the company"' and negatively impact employees).
38 See NAL Response at 5. In its NAL Response, TSA asserts that it "took immediate steps" to remedy the
violation. See id. Although TSA does not identify the specific steps it took, we assume that TSA is referring to its
filing on October 1, 2008, of an application for a new station authorization.
39 See id. at 6 (indicating that TSA posted certain notices to remind staff members of the obligation to file a timely
renewal application for TSA's current station license).
' See, e.g., Behringer USA, Inc., Forfeiture Order, 22 FCC Rcd 10451, 10459, para. 19 (2007) (forfeiture paid).
4' See NAL Response at 5.
42 See, e.g., Paulino Bernal Evangelism, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 21 FCC Rcd 9532, 9536, para. 12 (Enf.
Bur. 2006) (in determining whether a licensee has a history of overall compliance, offenses need not be "prior" to be
considered), review granted in part, denied in part, Order on Review, 23 FCC Rcd 15959 (2008); see also
Discussion Radio, 19 FCC Rcd at 7438, para. 15 (holding that a licensee's continued operation of a station without
authorization and the failure to timely seek Commission authority for such operations constitute separate violations
warranting the assessment of separate forfeitures).
43 See, e.g., Emigrant Storage, 27 FCC Rcd at 8920, n.26 ("The relative duration of a violation is a critical factor;"
failure to take this factor into consideration would create "perverse incentives."). Recently, we have upwardly
adjusted the recommended base forfeitures where unauthorized operations continued for extended periods of time.
See, e.g., BASF, 25 FCC Rcd at 17303, pare. 11 (five years of unauthorized operation); Call Mobile, 26 FCC Red at
77-78, para. 12 (two and a half years).
" See NAL, 24 FCC Red at 7641, para 11. TSA's unlawful operation of station KSC8 continued for approximately
five years (from September 22, 2003, when the license for station KSC8 expired, until October 2, 2008, when the
new station license was granted). See id. at 7639, para. 4. While Section 503(b)(6) of the Act, 47 U.S.C.
503(b)(6), generally bars the Commission from proposing a forfeiture for violations that occurred more than one
year prior to the issuance of a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, we may consider misconduct occurring
outside that period (in this case, during the four-year period preceding TSA's last year of unauthorized operations)
to place "the violations in context, thus establishing the licensee's degree of culpability and the continuing nature of
the violations." Roadrunner Transp. Inc., Forfeiture Order, 15 FCC Red 9669, 9671-72, para. 8 (2000) (internal
quotation marks omitted).10745
Federal Communications Commission
DA 13-1174
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United States. Federal Communications Commission. FCC Record, Volume 28, No. 14, Pages 10740 to 11616, July 23 - August 6, 2013, book, August 2013; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc272131/m1/20/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.