In a brief (and I do mean brief) review of various laws that have been
talked about lately in this group, I happened upon a debt collection
policy of the FCC. It is interesting reading if you have any debts
with the FCC. http://www.fcc.gov/debt_collection/#overview

And I quote from the page referenced above: "The rules provide that if
you fail to pay debts owed to the FCC, the debts will be referred to
the Department of Treasury for collection. Your failure to pay will be
reported to credit reporting agencies, and you will be unable to obtain
any licenses or other benefits from the FCC."

Remember the phrase "you will be unable to obtain any licenses or other
benefits from the FCC."

But does a forfeiture order constitute a debt to the FCC? Under the
right conditions, it sure does.

I quote the law from 47 U.S.C:

Section 503(b)

"If any person fails to pay an assessment of a forfeiture penalty
determined under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, after it has
become a final and unappealable order or after the appropriate court
has entered final judgment in favor of the Commission, the Commission
shall refer the matter to the Attorney General of the United States,
who shall recover the amount assessed in any appropriate district court
of the United States. In such action, the validity and appropriateness
of the final order imposing the forfeiture penalty shall not be subject
to review."

Section 402(C)

"Such appeal shall be taken by filing a notice of appeal with the court
within thirty days from the date upon which public notice is given of
the decision or order complained of."

It seems clear that the process here is that when a Forfeiture Order is
issued you have 30 days to file an appeal or the order of the FCC
becomes final ("final and unappealable order" as section 503 puts it).
So if there is no appeal the Order becomes final by default 30 days
after it is issued. Appeals must be presented in the proper form with
enough detail to provide a good basis for the appeal, and they must be
filed with the proper court. A judge then would review the appeal and
could either agree to hear the appeal or simply deny the appeal at this
point. The appeal process could take just a few days (if the filed
appeal has no merrit) or years if it goes to trial. But remember that
an appeal MUST be filed within 30 days to stop the Forfeiture Order
from becoming final.

The most interesting thing that I found is how the FCC treats those who
owe them money. IF one has a "final" order it is basically a debt owed
to the FCC. This will impact any future or pending applications which
are filed by anybody with such a final Forfeiture Order because of the
"Red Light Rule" that deals with the FCC's debt collection processes
and policy.

If you owe money to the them, FCC *HAS* to deny any license application
including applications for renewal. They actually have no choice in
the matter. The FCC's "Red Light Rule" prevents them from granting any
applications for persons or organizations that are in debt to the FCC
unless arrangements to pay the debt are made. This rule was adopted in
2004.

(And I quote from the policy):

"Under the rules adopted here, the Commission will not approve any
applications or other authorizations until we determine that all
delinquent debt to the Commission by entities using the same taxpayer
identifying number (TIN) is paid or satisfactory arrangements are made
for payment." So, if you have an unappealed Forfeiture Order that is 30
days old, it becomes "final" and the amount of the order is considered
a debt owed to the FCC. If you further refuse to pay said Forfeiture
after it's final any pending renewal application, or file one, it must
be rejected by the FCC.

So.. If you are issued a Forfeiture Order on the 28th of March, you
have until the 27th of April to file the appeal. After that point any
pending renewal applications that you have filed are going to be denied
by virtue of the "Red Light Rule". Assuming the FCC grants a grace
period of say 30 more days for the appeal and takes an additional 30
days to process the administrative paper work, your licence renewal
application will be denied some time in June.

Best of luck in the appeal, but your license is not going to be renewed
no matter what you do...