June 11, 2013 by Paul J. Feldman, Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, P.L.C. Common Law Blog
| Citation issued to Florida motel serves as reminder of | possible penalties for leaky cable systems. | | If you're a school, or a hotel, or a hospital, or some other | operation offering in-house cable TV service, you may be | subject to a six-figure FCC fine, even though you might not | think that you're subject to the long arm of the FCC's | enforcement machine. The Commission has been kind enough to | issue us all a reminder of that - in the form of a "Citation | and Order" directed to the Parkway Inn Motel in sunny Miami | Springs, Florida. | | From its website you might not think the Parkway Inn (Motto: | "Your Satisfaction is our Main Purpose") would attract the | FCC's attention, but it did. According to FCC inspectors, | the Parkway's video system was leaking big-time (in one case | by a factor of more than 100 times the permitted level) on | a couple of aeronautical frequencies. Yikes!
Continued:
Obtelecom: This relates to CATV, a subject that has been discussed here on T-D in the past, most recently in connection with "Price- gouging cable companies..."
More specifically, it relates to CATV signal leakage, a subject that was hotly discussed here back in 2002.
Signal leakage from CATV (or non-cable MVPD) networks is caused by physical breaks in the continuity of the cable shield. This breaks allow cable signals to radiate ("leak") into the surrounding airspace, possibly causing interference to communications services.
The FCC's principal enforcements efforts are aimed at channels that overlap aircraft communications and control signals. Other channels may interfere with other services, including amateur radio, as our moderator can surely attest.
Like any industry, the CATV industry has its share of horror stories. Here's my favorite signal-leakage horror story:
Neal McLain