EAS Alert Penalties Show FCC Cracking Down on Misuse, Broadcast Lawyer Says
A significant uptick in false emergency system alerts in the past five years has resulted in a growing number of FCC EAS penalties in amounts that previously appeared only in indecency cases, said broadcast lawyer Scott Flick in a post…
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Tuesday on Pillsbury Winthrop's blog. That day’s $1 million settlement by iHeartCommunications (see 1505190039) means the FCC has “taken five enforcement actions totaling nearly $2.5 million for misuse of EAS tones by broadcasters and cable networks” in the past six months, Flick said. While the financial penalty is noteworthy, the FCC also is attempting to eradicate copies of EAS tones before they can be used by future production staffs, he said. "Given the easy access to numerous recordings of EAS tones on the Internet, the FCC might be a bit optimistic that deleting the tone from a station’s production library will prevent a recurrence," Flick said. "It is perhaps an acknowledgement that most false EAS tone violations are the result of employees unaware of the FCC’s prohibition rather than a producer bent on violating the rule."