On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 06:49:08 -0400, Dave Hall
wrote in :

snip
It's not a matter of taking someone to court on criminal charges, it's
about the NAL system of enforcement. The evidence may be overwhelming
and uncontested, but the procedure is probably unconstitutional as the
Supreme Court has suggested in at least one opinion.

"Probably" unconstitutional? How so?


For many of the same reasons Bush's Patriot Act is unconstitutional:
you don't have the right to a fair trial or to contest all evidence;
the accused is not afforded the right to be "presumed innocent until
proven guilty" because guilt is presumed (or, in the words of the FCC,
"liability" is "apparent"); and guilt is determined by the accuser
which is a conflict of interest. Not only that, but the procedure was
concocted without any legal history or precedent -- they just came up
with the idea and made it law. According the the Supreme Court, that's
not "due process of law".


So the FCC avoids
any constitutional challenge to the NAL, even to the point of settling
before it goes to court. You suggested that there is some threshold
they use to decide which actions to take, and I would suggest that you
are right -- a critera based on the willingness and resourcefulness of
the accused to mount a legal challenge against the FCC's NAL system.

If, as you allege, the NAL system is constitutionally flawed, there
would be far more people challenging FCC NAL's and winning. This goes
beyond simple citizen's 2-way radio issues. Big guns like Howard Stern
have been fined by the FCC, and his respective companies forced to
pay. They can afford some heavy legal muscle. If the NAL system was
unconstitutional, you would think that these fines would have been
overturned in a legal battle on that basis. Then, of course, the FCC
would have to refine their methods if they wish to remain effective in
enforcement.


"Heavy muscle" costs money, and big businesses make their decisions
based on monetary values, not moral principles. Recent examples are
Proctor & Gamble's decision to pull their commercials from "Queer Eye"
and "Will & Grace", and Bill Gates pulling his support of gay rights
legislation, all because of boycotts by some culturally intolerant
right-wing religious homophobes. The god-squads do not represent the
majority by any means, but they can put a dent in the profits of these
corps who, BTW, will eventually reverse their decisions after the gay
rights groups begin their own boycotts. Money, not constitutionality,
is the motivating factor behind the decisions of big business.

Back to the topic.... The FCC fines have increased over the years but
have never exceeded the cost of mounting a full-scale legal challenge;
so the companies just take the hit, pay the fine and kiss FCC butt.
I'm sure that someday the FCC will slap someone with an NAL based on a
faulty financial assessment of a company and get challenged, but I'm
also sure they have a contingency plan in case that ever happens.
After all, they have had plenty of time to plan strategies to defend
against any possible legal confrontation. But until that day comes,
the FCC will continue operating as a rouge government outside the
boundries of the Constitution.







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