Alabama Proposes Streaming Tax

3-19-2015

A regulation being proposed by the Alabama Department of Revenue could change the landscape of state and local rental taxes applied to digital streaming services in the state. The expanded rental tax would be imposed on certain "cable or satellite television providers, online movie and digital music providers, app stores, and other similar providers of digital transmissions." Jdsupra reports that the customer's service address will be used to determine if the digital transmission is "used in Alabama."

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FCC Proposes Regulatory Fees for 2012

5-7-2012

The FCC in a "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" is planning to collect approximately $340K in fees for fiscal year 2012. The fees are mandated by Congress to recover the regulatory costs associated with the FCC's enforcement, policy and rulemaking, user information, and international activities. The fee methodology for radio is based on a number of factors, including facility attributes and the population served by each station. The calculation of the population served is determined by coupling census data with technical and engineering data.

Broadcast attorney David Oxenford has created a chart to see how much stations will pay based on the FCC population guidelines.

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FCC Proposes Revision of NPR Fundraising

4-26-2012

The commission is proposing to allow noncommercial stations to spend a modest amount of their total annual broadcast time?up to one percent?conducting fundraising activities on behalf of non-profit organizations. Under the current rules, public stations can only conduct fundraising activities for the benefit of the station.

Fundraising activities for third-parties is prohibited if fundraising activities conducted on-air would substantially alter or suspend regular programming. The policy reflects concerns that public stations are licensed to meet their mission of public service to local audiences through noncommercial and educational programming, not through fundraising activities for other organizations. This policy has been effect for over 40 years and the FCC is proposing a relaxation of the rule.

The policy would allow up to 88 hours per year ? to conduct on-air fundraising activities for charities and other nonprofits. This proposal is a recommendation of The Information Needs of Communities report, which was released in June 2011. The proposal gives viewers of public broadcasting the opportunity to raise
funds for non-profit organizations in their communities and around the world. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) is another step in the Commission?s effort to review existing regulations and reduce unnecessary burdens.

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FCC Proposes Additional Spectrum For Mobile Broadband

3-21-2012

The proposed rules are designed to provide for flexible use of this spectrum, to encourage innovation and investment in mobile broadband, and to provide a stable regulatory environment in which broadband deployment can develop in the 2 GHz band.  The notice directly follows on last year?s 2 GHz Band Co-Allocation Order, in which the Commission laid the predicate for full terrestrial use of this band. 
In the Notice of Inquiry, the Commission seeks comment on potential ways to free up additional valuable spectrum to address the increased demand for mobile broadband spectrum.

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