Begin forwarded message:

> From: Pit Schultz <pit@bootlab.org>
> Date: Wed Sep 10, 2003 3:56:55 AM US/Eastern
> To: nettime-l@bbs.thing.net
> Subject: <nettime> Free Radio Berkeley - Seize the Airwaves!
> Reply-To: Pit Schultz <pit@bootlab.org>
>
> Day of Mass Electronic Civil Disobedience - October 17, 2003
> by Stephen Dunifer - Free Radio Berkeley
>
>
>
> Seize the Airwaves!
> Break the Corporate Media's Stranglehold on the Free Flow of
> Information,
> News, Music, Artistic Expression, and Cultural Creativity
>
> Day of Mass Electronic Civil Disobedience
> Celebrating International Media Democracy Day
> Friday, October 17, 2003
>
> You go to the demonstrations, write letters and email to Congress; and
> yet,
> you feel as if your voice is not being heard. What if there was a way
> for
> your voice, and the voices of your compatriots, to actually be heard?
> There
> is - it is called micropower broadcasting or free radio.
>
> Micropower broadcasting began as a means to empower the residents of a
> housing project in Springfield, Illinois in the late 1980's. By
> creating a
> low power FM broadcast station, this community established its own
> voice and
> a direct means to fight against police brutality and repression.
> Unlicensed
> and unsanctioned by the government, Human Rights Radio, as it is now
> known,
> continues to broadcast to this very day.
>
> Since then, micropower broadcasting has grown into a national movement
> of
> electronic civil disobedience. Based on the principles of Free Speech
> and
> Direct Action, micropower broadcasting seeks to reclaim the electronic
> commons of the airwaves - a public resource and trust stolen by the
> corporate broadcasters, aided and abetted by the Federal Communications
> Commission (FCC) and other appendages of the US Government.
>
> Continuing in the rich tradition of the struggle to speak freely and be
> heard, micropower broadcasting has traded the historic soapbox for the
> FM
> broadcast transmitter. Advances in technology and design have allowed
> for
> the creation of FM transmitters at a very low cost in comparison to
> standard, commercial broadcasting equipment. An entire FM broadcast
> station
> covering a radius of 5-12 miles can be assembled for $1000 or less.
>
> Yes, there are legal risks involved. Such stations are violating FCC
> regulations and statutes, and are subject to possible legal actions
> such as
> threatening letters or fines, and sometimes seizure of equipment.
> Despite
> this, at any given time, there are hundreds of stations on the air
> across
> the United States. Unfortunately, stations tend to go on the air in
> isolation from one another, making them an easier target for the FCC.
>
> Despite the somewhat uncoordinated efforts of the last ten years,
> hundreds
> of micropower stations taking to the airwaves forced the FCC to
> respond to a
> rapidly growing, ungovernable situation. William Kennard, former head
> of the
> FCC, admitted this is in a documentary, LPFM - The Peoples' Voice,
> produced
> by the United Church of Christ's Microradio Implementation Project. (
> http://www.veriteproductions.net/html/awards.html ;
> http://www.current.org/in/in009LPFM.html ) Adding further legitimacy
> to the
> micropower broadcasting movement, the FCC's own study on possible
> interference issues, The Mitre Study
> (http://prometheusradio.org/release_71303.shtml), failed to show even
> marginal interference to full power broadcasters by low power FM
> stations.
> It went further to recommend the lifting of burdensome restrictions
> imposed
> on the LPFM broadcasting service.
>
> For years, the National Association of Broadcasters(NAB), representing
> corporate interests, has used interference as a red herring issue in
> their
> attempts to stifle the Free Speech Rights of micropower broadcasters.
> Joined
> by National Public Radio, the NAB, using bogus interference claims
> augmented
> with political grease, succeeded in getting a bill, ironically titled
> -The
> Broadcast Preservation Act of 1999, passed by Congress to severely
> limit the
> number of LPFM stations authorized by the FCC when they established
> the LPFM
> service in January of 1999. Whether it was the Free Speech fights of
> the
> Wobblies, folks refusing to go to the back of the bus or hundreds of
> unsanctioned low power FM taking to the airwaves, mass movements
> creating
> ungovernable situations do work.
>
> Therefore, we are calling for a day of electronic solidarity and direct
> action, marking the beginning of a new chapter in micropower
> broadcasting by
> raising the struggle to an entirely new level of engagement. Between
> now and
> October, 17th, we are asking you and your community to create your own
> broadcast station to further empower your vision of a just, humane,
> peaceful
> and sustainable world.
>
> Hundreds of new stations going on the air all at once will be a
> powerful
> statement to the corporate media and the government that the airwaves
> belong
> to the people who have chosen to seize them back, speaking in one
> strong
> collective voice. With budgets and resources stretched thin, the FCC
> will be
> hard-pressed to respond to such an expression of solidarity. This
> action
> will encourage many more communities to set up their own broadcast
> stations.
> Schools, arts centers, housing projects, senior communities; all could
> be
> empowered with free radio broadcasting. Critical mass can be achieved
> within
> a very short period of time.
>
> To further amplify this collective voice, a mass 24 hour broadcast of
> the
> same programming by hundreds of micropower stations would meld
> hundreds of
> small voices into one giant shout for Free Speech Rights. Using the
> existing
> infrastructure of the Internet and audio streaming technologies which
> have
> been employed by the Independent Media Centers since 1999, a common
> audio
> stream would be created for re-broadcasting. Individual stations would
> work
> collectively to create programming for this 24 hour broadcast. Given
> the
> number of IMC sites in the US, they could serve as hubs for the audio
> streams, both incoming and outgoing. And, quite possibly, stations
> outside
> the US would join in as well, creating a global movement to reclaim the
> broadcast spectrum.
>
> Setting up a basic FM broadcast station requires the following items.
> Approximate price ranges are given.
>
> Transmitter - $150 to $600
> Power Supply - $35to $100
> Antenna - $15 to $125
> Antenna cable - $50 to $75
> Compressor/limiter - $80 to $100
> Audio mixer - $75 to $150
> Microphones $25 to $50 each
> Tape and CD players, go to garage sales or get donated units
> Donated 300-500 Mhz computer to work as an MP3 sound file jukebox.
> Allows
> unattended playing of program material as needed.
>
> Transmitters are available as kits or fully assembled units. Assembled
> units
> are mostly available from vendors in the UK. A list of vendors follows
> at
> the end of this article. A very serviceable antenna can be built from
> common
>