The FCC has been known to yank amateur radio licenses on the grounds of
the "bad character" of the holder, as evidenced by (if I remember
correctly the one case I read) a conviction of a crime.

Alan NV8A


On 08/26/04 08:35 am Lloyd put fingers to keyboard and launched the
following message into cyberspace:

The original post just doesn't compute. The FCC has no authority over
anything other than what happens on the air, so a threat posted on QRZ
would be out of their jurisdiction. That would be an area for law
enforcement to handle. Same thing for Usenet posts.

If he made threats on the air, that would be an entirely different
matter ...

"Minnie Bannister" wrote in message
...
The FCC has been known to yank amateur radio licenses on the grounds of
the "bad character" of the holder, as evidenced by (if I remember
correctly the one case I read) a conviction of a crime.

Alan NV8A


On 08/26/04 08:35 am Lloyd put fingers to keyboard and launched the
following message into cyberspace:

The original post just doesn't compute. The FCC has no authority over
anything other than what happens on the air, so a threat posted on QRZ
would be out of their jurisdiction. That would be an area for law
enforcement to handle. Same thing for Usenet posts.

If he made threats on the air, that would be an entirely different
matter ...

I believe he said "someone turned him in for having made the threat" over
the air, even though he claims he didn't. However, he did also admit to the
FCC that he made the threat - even if it wasn't on the air. So, they have
the direct admission to the offense and reports it happened. Obviously the
FCC chose to accept the word of those reporting it. Therefore, "thinking" it
happened on the air, they would in a sense have jurisdiction. I'd hope
they'd have asked for proof of it - being done ON THE AIR, but perhaps they
erred on the side of caution.

As to the statement at the top, I believe I've heard of that being done as
well.... So............. who knows..........?

L.

On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 10:19:43 -0400, Minnie Bannister
wrote:

The FCC has been known to yank amateur radio licenses on the grounds of
the "bad character" of the holder, as evidenced by (if I remember
correctly the one case I read) a conviction of a crime.

Alan NV8A

Well, the case you're thinking about wasn't a petty theft, it
was murder and, yes, the FCC can and will yank a license for character
issues, basing their "logic" on "Well, if he's willing to commit a
crime, he won't be willing to comply with the FCC Rules and be honest
about it."
Unfortunately, unless Congress steps in and says that certain
misdemeanors shouldn't be counted against a person's character, the
FCC will be yanking licenses for that reason. And, Congress will not
be willing to listen, fearing a voter backlash for being soft on
crime, even petty crimes that would get a person 30 days in jail.
A friend of mine told me that a long term member of RACES was
forced to leave after a minor crime (no jail, just a fine), but, it
was a high enough crime that DHS said, "Dump him or else."
It's not impossible to regain the ticket, though, fortunately.
I recently read where a guy whose character was enough to yank the
ticket proved to an ALJ that he had learned his lesson and was
rehabbed. The ALJ, as mentioned, agreed that was the case and the
Commission affirmed the ALJ's decision and returned the guy's ticket.

Splinter