Click here for Adobe Acrobat version
Click here for Microsoft Word version
********************************************************
NOTICE
********************************************************
This document was converted from Microsoft Word.
Content from the original version of the document such as
headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers
will not show up in this text version.
All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the
original document will not show up in this text version.
Features of the original document layout such as
columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins
will not be preserved in the text version.
If you need the complete document, download the
Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat version.
*****************************************************************
Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
) File No. EB-03-CF-205
Jeff Amedro )
Dba Cell Page ) NAL/Acct. No.
200332340006
Morgantown, WV )
) FRN 0009-5345-61
NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE
Released: September
5, 2003
By the District Director, Columbia Office, Enforcement Bureau:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. In this Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture
("NAL"), we find that Mr. Jeff Amedro, doing business as (dba)
Cell Page has apparently violated Section 301 of the
Communications Act of 1934 (Act)1, as amended by operating radio
transmitting equipment on 157.740 MHz without an instrument of
authorization. We conclude that Cell Page is apparently liable
for a forfeiture in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
II. BACKGROUND
2. In February 2003, the FCC Columbia Office received
information from an FCC licensed user that Cell Page was
operating an unlicensed paging system on the frequency 157.740
MHz in Morgantown and Clarksburg, WV.
3. On March 20, 2003, an agent from the Columbia Office
traveled to Clarksburg, WV to monitor transmissions on the
frequency 157.740 MHz. Using electronic direction finding
techniques, the agent located paging transmissions emanating from
a site northeast of Clarksburg, WV. The agent determined that
the paging transmissions were from a Cell Page owned transmitter.
4. Still on March 20, 2003, the agent visited the office
of Cell Page in Morgantown, WV. During the visit, the owner, Mr.
Jeff Amedro, produced a license issued to Home Security of West
Virginia, Inc., which had expired in December 2000. Mr Amedro
admitted that Cell Page did not have a valid instrument of
authorization for the operation on 157.740 MHz. The agent
advised Mr. Amedro that operation without a valid FCC station
license violated the Act.
5. On April 11, 2003, the agent traveled to Morgantown, WV
and monitored the frequency 157.740 MHz. Again, he observed
transmissions by Cell Page on the frequency between 11:23 AM and
11:25 AM. Further monitoring on August 14, 2003 revealed that
Cell Page was still operating without authorization.
III. DISCUSSION
6. Section 301 of the Act sets forth generally that no
person shall use or operate any apparatus for the transmission of
energy or communications or signals by radio within the United
States except under and in accordance with the Act and with a
license granted under the provisions of the Act. A review of
Commission's records showed that there was no evidence of a
Commission authorization to operate this transmitter on the
frequency 157.740 MHz from Morgantown and Clarksburg, WV.
7. Based on the evidence before us, we find that Cell Page
willfully2 and repeatedly3 violated Section 301 of the Act. The
Commission's Forfeiture Policy Statement and Amendment of Section
1.80 of the Rules to Incorporate the Forfeiture Guidelines, 12
FCC Rcd 17087, 17113 (1997), recon. denied, 15 FCC Rcd 303(1999)
(``Forfeiture Policy Statement'')4, sets the base forfeiture
amount at $10,000 for operation without an instrument of
authorization. In assessing the monetary forfeiture amount, we
must take into account the statutory factors set forth in Section
503(b)(2)(D) of the Act,5 which include the nature,
circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation, and with
respect to the violator, the degree of culpability, any history
of prior offenses, ability to pay, and other such matters as
justice may require. Applying the Policy Statement and the
statutory factors to the instant case and applying the inflation
adjustments, we believe that a ten thousand dollar ($10,000)
monetary forfeiture is warranted.
IV. ORDERING CLAUSES
8. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section
503(b) of the Act6 and Sections 0.111, 0.311 and 1.80 of the
Commission's Rules (``Rules'')7 Cell Page is hereby NOTIFIED of
this APPARENT LIABILITY FOR A FORFEITURE in the amount of ten
thousand dollars ($10,000) for willfully and repeatedly violating
Section 301 of the Act.
9. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section 1.80 of
the Rules, within thirty days of the release date of this NOTICE
OF APPARENT LIABILITY, Cell Page SHALL PAY the full amount of the
proposed forfeiture or SHALL FILE a written statement seeking
reduction or cancellation of the proposed forfeiture.
10. Payment of the forfeiture may be made by mailing a
check or similar instrument, payable to the order of the Federal
Communications Commission, to the Forfeiture Collection Section,
Finance Branch, Federal Communications Commission, P.O. Box
73482, Chicago, Illinois 60673-7482. The payment should note the
NAL/Acct. No. 200332340006, and FRN 0009-5345-61.
11. The response, if any, must be mailed to Federal
Communications Commission, Enforcement Bureau, Spectrum
Enforcement Division, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C.
20554 and MUST INCLUDE THE NAL/Acct. No. 200332340006.
12. The Commission will not consider reducing or canceling
a forfeiture in response to a claim of inability to pay unless
the petitioner submits: (1) federal tax returns for the most
recent three-year period; (2) financial statements prepared
according to generally accepted accounting practices (``GAAP'');
or (3) some other reliable and objective documentation that
accurately reflects the petitioner's current financial status.
Any claim of inability to pay must specifically identify the
basis for the claim by reference to the financial documentation
submitted.
13. Requests for payment of the full amount of this Notice
of Apparent Liability under an installment plan should be sent
to: Chief, Revenue and Receivables Operations Group, 445 12th
Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.8
14. Under the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002,
Pub L. No. 107-198, 116 Stat. 729 (June 28, 2002), the FCC is
engaged in a two-year tracking process regarding the size of
entities involved in forfeitures. If you qualify as a small
entity and if you wish to be treated as a small entity for
tracking purposes, please so certify to us within thirty (30)
days of this NAL, either in your response to the NAL or in a
separate filing to be sent to the Technical and Public Safety
Division. Your certification should indicate whether you,
including your parent entity and its subsidiaries, meet one of
the definitions set forth in the list provided by the FCC's
Office of Communications Business Opportunities (OCBO) set forth
in Attachment A of this Notice of Apparent Liability. This
information will be used for tracking purposes only. Your
response or failure to respond to this question will have no
effect on your rights and responsibilities pursuant to Section
503(b) of the Communications Act. If you have questions
regarding any of the information contained in Attachment A,
please contact OCBO at (202) 418-0990.
15. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT a copy of this NOTICE OF
APPARENT LIABILITY shall be sent by Certified Mail, Return
Receipt Requested, to Cell Page, 440 Spruce Street, Morgantown,
WV 26505.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
Charles C. Magin
District Director
Columbia Office
Attachment A - FCC List of Small Entities, October 2002
_________________________
1 47 U.S.C. § 301.
2 Section 312(f)(1) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 312(f)(1), which
applies to Section 503(b) of the Act, provides that ``[t]he term
`willful', when used with reference to the commission or omission
of any act, means the conscious and deliberate commission or
omission of such act, irrespective of any intent to violate any
provision of this Act ....'' See Southern California
Broadcasting Co., 6 FCC Rcd 4387 (1991).
3 The term ``repeated,'' when used with reference to the
commission or omission of any act, ``means the commission or
omission of such act more than once or, if such commission or
omission is continuous, for more than one day.'' 47 U.S.C. §
312(f)(2).
447 C.F.R. § 1.80.
5 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(2)(D).
6 47 U.S.C. § 503(b).
7 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111 and 0.311.
8 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.