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   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:

   October 5, 2011 David Fiske (202) 418-0513

   Email: david.fiske@fcc.gov

          TWENTY ONLINE RETAILERS OF ILLEGAL JAMMING DEVICES TARGETED

                         IN OMNIBUS ENFORCEMENT ACTION

   Washington, D.C. - The FCC Enforcement Bureau has issued 20 enforcement
   actions against online retailers in 12 states for illegally marketing more
   than 200 uniquely-described models of cell phone jammers, GPS jammers,
   Wi-Fi jammers, and similar signal jamming devices. These devices have the
   capacity to prevent, block, or otherwise interfere with authorized radio
   communications in violation of section 302(b) of the Communications Act
   and sections 2.803 and 15.201(b) of the Commission's rules.

   The Enforcement Bureau's actions are intended to warn retailers and
   potential purchasers that marketing, selling, or using signal jamming
   devices in the U.S. is illegal and that the FCC will vigorously prosecute
   these violations.

   Enforcement Bureau Chief Michele Ellison said, "Our actions should send a
   strong message to retailers of signal jamming devices that we will not
   tolerate continued violations of federal law. Jamming devices pose
   significant risks to public safety and can have unintended and sometimes
   dangerous consequences for consumers and first responders."

   In the Omnibus Citation and Order, the Bureau emphasized that because
   signal jamming devices work by indiscriminately interrupting or
   interfering with communications, the use of a jamming device in a
   classroom, theater, church, restaurant, or other public place could
   prevent someone in the vicinity of the jammer from making an emergency
   call to 9-1-1, the police, a fire department, or a family member in
   trouble.

   Accordingly, the Bureau directed each online retailer to take immediate
   steps to cease marketing signal jamming devices to consumers in the United
   States and its territories. Such steps may include removing the illegal
   signal jamming devices from online display, expressly excluding consumers
   in the United States as potential customers, and declining to sell signal
   jamming devices or complete any sales transaction to consumers in the
   United States.

   In a Request for Information attached to the Omnibus Citation, the Bureau
   also ordered the online retailers to provide information about their
   signal jammer suppliers, distribution channels, and sales_including the
   manufacturer of each illegal signal jamming device, the websites that the
   online retailer has used to market the devices in the United States or its
   territories, and the corrective actions the online retailer has taken or
   will take to comply with federal law prohibiting the marketing and sale of
   jamming devices.

   Because these enforcement actions were taken against retailers who are not
   otherwise regulated by the Commission, the Communications Act requires the
   Commission to first issue a "citation" describing the violation and
   warning against future misconduct. The Omnibus Citation and Order
   emphasized that a second violation could lead to monetary penalties of
   $16,000 to $112,500.

   The Omnibus Citation and Order also noted, for example, that a separate
   penalty could be imposed for each jamming device sold or each day on which
   a jamming device is marketed, and that additional violations could result
   in the seizure of equipment and imprisonment.

   Ellison said, "We expect that these retailers will take immediate steps to
   ensure future compliance. If they continue to offer jammers to consumers
   in the U.S., we will work closely with our law enforcement partners to
   prosecute them to the full extent of the law. Consumers deserve no less."

   The Enforcement Bureau has taken several actions against retailers and
   users of jamming devices, and in February of this year, released two
   Enforcement Advisories as part of its "outreach, educate, and enforce"
   approach to preventing the spread of these illegal devices. (See Retailer
   Advisory, available at
   
   http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/Public_Notices/DA-11-249A1.html; and Consumer
   Advisory, available at
   
   http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/Public_Notices/DA-11-250A1.html).

   The signal jamming devices listed in the Omnibus Citation and Order
   include GPS blockers for vehicles, high-tech signal blockers with remote
   control capabilities, jammers disguised as paintings and cigarette packs,
   and other small, easily-concealable cell phone jammers, as well as
   high-powered industrial jammers that have the potential to disrupt radio
   signals in areas as large as a football field.

   In addition, the signal jammers offered by the online retailers claim to
   target a wide variety of frequencies, services, and technologies.

   The full text of the Omnibus Citation and Order is available at:
   
   http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-11-1661A1.pdf

   In order to help answer consumer questions about signal jammers, the
   Enforcement Bureau has published Frequently Asked Questions on GPS, Wi-Fi
   and Cell Phone Jammers, available on the FCC's Jammer Enforcement webpage,
   at 
   http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/jammerenforcement/jamfaq.pdf.

   To file a complaint alerting the FCC's Enforcement Bureau to illegal cell,
   GPS, or other

   jamming devices, please visit www.fcc.gov/complaints, or call
   1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-

   225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY.

   For further information, contact John D. Poutasse, Acting Chief, Spectrum
   Enforcement Division, Enforcement Bureau, or Daudeline Meme, Assistant
   Chief, Spectrum Enforcement Division, Enforcement Bureau, at (202)
   418-1160 or at jammerinfo@fcc.gov.

                                    --FCC--

    

   News and other information about the FCC is available at www.fcc.gov.

   NEWS

   Federal Communications Commission

   445 12th Street, S.W.

   Washington, D.C. 20554

   This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the
   full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.

   See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).

                                          News Media Information 202-418-0500

                                                 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov

                                                          TTY: 1-888-835-5322