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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
)
)
In the Matter of
) File Number EB-07-DL-033
Northland Cable Ventures, LLC
) NAL/Acct. No.200732500004
Owner of Physical System ID 008406
) FRN 0004522298
Gun Barrel City, Texas
)
)
NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE
Released: May 23, 2007
By the District Director, Dallas Office, South Central Region, Enforcement
Bureau:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. In this Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture ("NAL"), we find
that Northland Cable Ventures, LLC ("Northland"), owner of the cable
television system in Gun Barrel City, Texas, Physical System ID
008406, apparently willfully and repeatedly violated Section
76.1700(b) of the Commission's Rules ("Rules") by failing to maintain
a complete public inspection file within their physical system and
apparently willfully violated Section 76.1700(b) of the Rules by
failing to make available a complete public inspection file. We
conclude, pursuant to Section 503(b) of the Communications Act of
1934, as amended ("Act"), that Northland is apparently liable for a
forfeiture in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
II. BACKGROUND
2. On April 26, 2007, agents of the Commission's Dallas Office of the
Enforcement Bureau inspected the Northland cable television system
located in Gun Barrel City, Texas. The agents requested to inspect the
system's public inspection file. The file produced contained no
documents dated after 2005. A supervisor for the Northland Gun Barrel
office stated that the current documents for the public inspection
file were located at the regional office located in Corsicana, Texas.
Corsicana, Texas is not within physical system 008406.
III. DISCUSSION
3. Section 503(b) of the Act provides that any person who willfully or
repeatedly fails to comply substantially with the terms and conditions
of any license, or willfully or repeatedly fails to comply with any of
the provisions of the Act or of any rule, regulation or order issued
by the Commission thereunder, shall be liable for a forfeiture
penalty. The term "willful" as used in Section 503(b) has been
interpreted to mean simply that the acts or omissions are committed
knowingly. The term "repeated" means the commission or omission of
such act more than once or for more than one day.
4. Section 76.1700(b) of the Rules states that "[T]he public inspection
file [of cable system operators] shall be maintained at the office
which the system operator maintains for the ordinary collection of
subscriber charges, resolution of subscriber complaints, and other
business or at any other accessible place in the community served by
the system unit(s). The public inspection file shall be available for
public inspection at any time during regular business hours." On April
26, 2007, agents of the Dallas Office asked to inspect the system's
public inspection file. Northland was unable to produce any documents
from the public inspection file dated after 2005. The agents were told
that the current documents required to be kept in the public
inspection file were located in the Northland regional office in
Corsicana, Texas. Based on the evidence before us, we find that
Northland apparently willfully and repeatedly violated Section
76.1700(b) of the Rules by failing to maintain a complete public
inspection file within their physical system and apparently willfully
violated Section 76.1700(b) of the Rules by failing to make available
a complete public inspection file.
5. Pursuant to The Commission's Forfeiture Policy Statement and Amendment
of Section 1.80 of the Rules to Incorporate the Forfeiture Guidelines,
("Forfeiture Policy Statement"), and Section 1.80 of the Rules, the
base forfeiture amount for violation of the public file rules is
$10,000. In assessing the monetary forfeiture amount, we must also
take into account the statutory factors set forth in Section
503(b)(2)(E) of the Act, which include the nature, circumstances,
extent, and gravity of the violations, and with respect to the
violator, the degree of culpability, and history of prior offenses,
ability to pay, and other such matters as justice may require.
Applying the Forfeiture Policy Statement, Section 1.80, and the
statutory factors to the instant case, we conclude that Northland
Cable is apparently liable for a ($10,000) forfeiture.
IV. ORDERING CLAUSES
6. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Section 503(b) of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and Sections 0.111, 0.311,
0.314 and 1.80 of the Commission's Rules, Northland Cable Ventures,
LLC is hereby NOTIFIED of this APPARENT LIABILITY FOR A FORFEITURE in
the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for violations of Section
76.1700(b) of the Rules.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, pursuant to Section 1.80 of the
Commission's Rules within thirty days of the release date of this
Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, Northland Cable Ventures,
LLC SHALL PAY the full amount of the proposed forfeiture or SHALL
FILE a written statement seeking reduction or cancellation of the
proposed forfeiture.
8. Payment of the forfeiture must be made by check or similar instrument,
payable to the order of the Federal Communications Commission. The
payment must include the NAL/Acct. No. and FRN No. referenced above.
Payment by check or money order may be mailed to Federal
Communications Commission, P.O. Box 358340, Pittsburgh, PA
15251-8340. Payment by overnight mail may be sent to Mellon
Bank /LB 358340, 500 Ross Street, Room 1540670, Pittsburgh, PA
15251. Payment by wire transfer may be made to ABA Number 043000261,
receiving bank Mellon Bank, and account number 911-6106.
9. The response, if any, must be mailed to Federal Communications
Commission, Enforcement Bureau, South Central Region, Dallas Office,
9330 LBJ Freeway, Suite 1170, Dallas, Texas, 75243 and must include
the NAL/Acct. No. referenced in the caption.
10. 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.
11. Requests for payment of the full amount of this Notice of Apparent
Liability for Forfeiture under an installment plan should be sent to:
Associate Managing Director, Financial Operations, 445 12th Street,
S.W., Room 1A625, Washington, D.C. 20554.^8
12. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Notice of Apparent Liability
for Forfeiture shall be sent by Certified Mail, Return Receipt
Requested, and regular mail, to Northland Cable Ventures, LLC at its
address of record.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
James D. Wells
District Director
Dallas Office
South Central Region
Enforcement Bureau
cc: Northland Cable Ventures, LLC - Gun Barrel City, TX
Northland Cable Ventures, LLC - Regional Office, Corsicana, TX
47 C.F.R. S 76.1700(b).
47 U.S.C. S 503(b).
The 2003 and 2005 Equal Employment Opportunity reports were available on
Northland's Gun Barrel webpage,
http://www.northlandcabletv.com/gun%20barrel/localEmployment.asp?area=&office=&atype=.
However, no other documents required to be in the public inspection file
were available on this webpage.
Section 312(f)(1) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. S 312(f)(1), which applies to
violations for which forfeitures are assessed under 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 or any rule or regulation of the Commission
authorized by this Act...." See Southern California Broadcasting Co., 6
FCC Rcd 4387 (1991).
Section 312(f)(2) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. S 312(f)(2), which also applies to
violations for which forfeitures are assessed under Section 503(b) of the
Act, provides that "[t]he 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 C.F.R. S 76.1700(b).
Northland Cable has 4,600 subscribers. Accordingly, it is required to
maintain for public inspection a political file and provide upon request
records regarding sponsorship identifications, equal employment
opportunity, children's programming, proof-of-performance test data, and
signal leakage logs and repairs. See 47 C.F.R. SS 76.1701, 76.1702,
76.1703, 76.1704, 76.1706, 76.1715.
12 FCC Rcd 17087 (1997), recon. denied, 15 FCC Rcd 303 (1999); 47 C.F.R.
S1.80.
47 U.S.C. S 503(b)(2)(E).
47 U.S.C. S 503(b), 47 C.F.R. SS 0.111, 0.311, 0.314, 1.80, 76.1700(b).
^8 See 47 C.F.R. S 1.1914.
(...continued from previous page)
(continued....)
Federal Communications Commission
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Federal Communications Commission