PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Seven years ago, the Federal Communications Commission recognized the need for more diverse programming on the airwaves and allowed for the licensing of new Low Power FM radio stations. This new broadcasting window was immediately closed due to lobbying by powerful commercial radio interests.  Educational institutions, labor unions, churches, towns, and community groups seeking to start Low Power radio stations have faced restrictive license requirements that limit community access to the airwaves.  The Local Community radio act, recently approved by the Senate Commerce committee, should ease these restrictions and allow for hundreds of new non-commercial stations.  In the coming months legislative versions of the Local Community Radio Act will appear before the full Senate and House of Representatives.

[ Full article ]

[ Free Speech Radio News story (4:58) ]

[ Rustbelt Radio story (12:42) ]

[ More info on the Prometheus Radio Project website ]

Thursday morning, authorities issued a federal order to Internet Service Provider Rackspace ordering them to hand over information hosted on Indymedia web servers to the FBI. Rackspace, which provides hosting services for more that 20 Indymedia sites at its London facility, complied by turning over two Indymedia servers to federal authorities, effectively removing those sites from the internet.

Indymedia, a global network of independent non-corporate media organizations, had been asked last month by the FBI to remove a story about Swiss undercover police from one of the websites hosted at Rackspace. It is not known, however, whether Thursday's order is related to that incident since the order was issued to Rackspace and not to Indymedia. According to Rackspace, they "cannot provide Indymedia with any information regarding the order." ISPs have received gag orders in similar situations which prevent them from informing concerned parties about what is happening. This represents the most serious attack yet on Indymedia's infrastructure by government authorities.

[ Read More | Indymedia FBI page | Indymedia Oct 11 press release ]

Civil liberties activists won a victory on Wednesday, September 29 when a key part of the USA PATRIOT Act that allows the FBI to secretly demand information from Internet providers was ruled unconstitutional by a U.S. District Judge. Section 505 of the Act requires Internet service providers and any other type of communication provider--including telephone companies--to comply with secret "national security letters" from the FBI. Those letters can ask for information about subscribers--including home addresses, what telephone calls were made, e-mail subject lines and logs of what Web sites were visited. The law was struck down the grounds that it violates free speech rights under the First Amendment as well as the right to be free from unreasonable searches under the Fourth Amendment.�

The ACLU, which filed the lawsuit six months ago on behalf of an unnamed Internet company, says that the Court's decision was an "important victory and significant step in the efforts to dismantle the harmful aspects of the Patriot Act."

The ruling could have a broad impact on government surveillance.

[ ACLU press release | Court Ruling | Related section of the PATRIOT Act | City Council Resolution ]

Two community radio stations, one in Knoxville, TN and the second in Santa Cruz, CA have been raided in the last 2 weeks by armed US Marshalls (and/or FBI) and the FCC. Last October, San Francisco Police and the FCC raided a popular Bay Area radio station. Despite the federal government's war on community media, radio activists across the US are operating community stations in open defiance of FCC regulations. The FCC strives to squelch community radio so that the airwaves remain free for media conglomerates like right-wing ClearChannel Communications, which owns 1,250 radio stations (six in Pittsburgh), and Viacom-owned Infinty Broadcasting, which owns 180 stations (four in Pittsburgh).

Also, in Pittsburgh, two broadcasters were shut down in the past week due to FCC intimidation. South Side Radio broadcasting at very low power on 102.9FM, and "WCSA Radio" in Plum, PA (Allegheny County, east of Pittsburgh near Oakmont). Indymedia Rustbelt Radio, our biweekly news program on (licensed) WRCT 88.3FM, will feature reports on these actions in Pittsburgh and around the US this week on Tuesday, October 5th at 6pm.

Next week the National Association of Broadcasters, a powerful lobby group, will meet in San Diego. In opposition to their corporate agenda, independent media activists will be holding a four day convergence of workshops, speakers, and actions to tell the NAB "We Want Our Airwaves Back!".

[ KFAR 90.9 TN IMC story | FRSC 101.1 Santa Cruz IMC story | SFLR 93.7 IndyBay IMC story | South Side Radio 102.9 Pittsburgh | Secret Service vs. Indymedia | Media EmergenC ]