[cr-india] Fwd: [claw-in] Re: Pirate radio stations in Orissa

[Vickram Crishna]

Forwarded for Dr Mehta...
>Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 19:15:17 +0530
>Subject: [cr-india] Pirate radio stations in Orissa
>
>Vickram, would you please forward this to cr-india if it doesn't get there
>on its own, I've just tried to subscribe this address I now use to post to
>lists with.
>
>The arguments against the government action:
>1. Freedom of speech. A person who is literate has many outlets for speech,
>if she wants it to reach many people, she can, by writing a letter to the
>editor onwards. The poor illiterate person cannot be denied, under the
>fundamental right to speech, the one outlet that works for him.
>2. If there is a ban on private radio, why are Internet radio stations
>being allowed to function for the last so many years? Again, a
>discrimination in favour of the rich.
>3. Amplifying on the argument made below, a radio station is an
>ecologically friendly PA system. So much better, when people who are
>studying or need the sleep can turn the damn noise off.
>4. Shortage of spectrum cannot serve as a government argument, in fact it
>makes me laugh just thinking about it: you'd be lucky if you could pick up
>a single FM station in the area, the band has room for dozens. This is very
>clearly a case of government playing dog in the manger: if it cannot make
>money from this spectrum, why deny it to others who wish to try?
>
>As regards questions of monitoring for antinational activity, why not a
>local radio council consisting of all the broadcasters, content producers
>and people earning their living partly or fully from the activity, that
>adopts a voluntary code of content regulation, and also deals with
>violations? Why can't the government trust people to do the job themselves?
>
>We also have to deal with the question of spectrum management. I find the
>argument often used, that such and such an idea will fail -- why? Because
>it will be so successful, that it will fail. You'll get that with FM radio
>too, and it needs addressing. Suppose people set up a cacaphony of
>stations, each trying to overpower the other, in the Dharavi slums? The
>answer is simple: directional antennae, better quality radio sets, and
>ultimately, let the council or government mandate a power level that people
>cannot exceed -- basically, let the local people decide how much power can
>you pump. Where there are few stations, you should be allowed to pump more.
>I simply don't believe there is a market for that many stations in mant
>cities, not when everyone is so enamoured of TV. The governments' policy is
>simply not working, it is nowhere in any distant five year plan, to put up
>that many radio stations in all parts of the country, that will fill up the
>available spectrum.
>
>The police etc. use part of the FM band -- it is utterly ridiculous, that
>our security agencies have no better frequency to use, one which a Rs. 50
>device can't overhear? The cops should be asked to vacate the FM band, for
>their own good, and the spectrum made available to the citizen for free, or
>a nominal fee.
>
>Why is CB radio allowed, and not FM radio? It costs Rs. 100 per annum for a
>CB license, I just got a couple. The CB is two way, far more "dangerous."
>
>What about the argument that the terrorist might capture a radio station,
>misuse it? Today, terrorists already have access to equivalent technology,
>the PA system. Do they use it? Of course not: they thrive in secrecy, not
>openness. This is an argument for the radio stations, not against them.
>
>In a disaster, a radio station could be back on the air in no time: a car
>battery is all the power you need. How many lives could be saved, if we
>could quickly have communications going in disaster areas? Enough radios
>will survive, no matter what the disaster, for the network to become
>vitally important in relief efforts. Of course, in the case of disasters
>for which warnings can be given, how wonderful to quickly be able to tell a
>town to evacuate?
>
>My suggestion is that we formulate a letter. Send it to Minister I&B, seek
>a meeting. If that doesn't work, take it up with other politicians -- they
>would hate to fight the "pro-poor" argument we make.
>
>If that doesn't work, we move to Plan B. In my view, clearly the time has
>come for us to stand up and be counted.
>
>Is a lawyer volunteering to formulate the letter?
>Do others have arguments that can add to the above list?
>Who will sign?
>Arun
>At 5/21/2002, Vickram Crishna wrote:
>>>Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 22:34:52 +0530
>>>
>>>The original news item as published in Mumbai stated very clearly in the
>>>headline (it may have been either the Times of India or Asian Age, about
>>>4-5 days back) that the content being broadcast 'from a powerful
>>>transmitter' was anti-national. However, the body of the article revealed
>>>that what the police actually found was 'vulgar' music (was this pirated
>>>from MTV/Channel V on TV or was it the filmi music being broadcast over 5
>>>FM channels in Mumbai? Alas, this may never be revealed). The news item
>>>below confirms the rather innocuous, even if of rather questionable
>>>taste, content that the stations have been delivering to listeners in
>>>their immediate vicinity.
>>>
>>>I have seen no response on this list, rather to my surprise. Are we
>>>silent about the concept of village level low power transmitters being
>>>used by local villagers to broadcast their own selections of
>>>entertainment and features to their neighbors? Or did everyone just miss
>>>this item when it was first published?
>>>
>>>I think we have all seen the spread of loud horn type PA systems being
>>>used to deliver various kinds of audio content to anyone within
>>>ear-splitting range. If you are in the habit of visiting villages or
>>>urban slums, you will find these systems decorating the neighborhood.
>>>
>>>Are we now to assume that the GoI would prefer this (perfectly legal)
>>>means of broadcast to the far more personal and private (and definitely
>>>less noise-polluting) kind of listening that FM affords?
>>>
>>>>Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 20:16:00 +0530
>>>>
>>>>Orissa police unearth illegal radio stations
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>PTI [ SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2002  2:45:40 PM ]
>>>>
>>>>KENDRAPARA: After detection of clandestine broadcast from two low power
>>>>transmitters in Orissa's coastal belt this week, police have come to know
>>>>that five more such unauthorised radio stations were functioning in the
>>>>region.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>These five transmitters, which operated from Kendrapara and Bhadrak
>>>>districts, had gone off the air following the police crackdown, official
>>>>sources said.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Police have identified Banipal, Jambu and Batighar villages in Kendrapara
>>>>district and Harishpur and Kainthakola near Dhamra in Bhadrak district from
>>>>where programmes in Oriya and Bengali were being broadcast within a radius
>>>>of five to ten km.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>While a transmitter was seized from Talchua village in Kendrapara district,
>>>>another was recovered from Bandhamundi village in Balasore district. Two
>>>>persons were arrested in this connection after cases were registered under
>>>>the Wireless and Telegraph act.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Police had found that some of the Bangladeshi immigrants living in the area
>>>>in large numbers were involved in the broadcasts.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>The sources, however, said that inquiries conducted so far had 
>>>>revealed that
>>>>the contents of the broadcasts, though illegal, did not contain any
>>>>anti-national material
>>>
>>>--
>>>Vickram
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>CR-india mailing list
>>>CR-india at mail.sarai.net
>>>http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
>>
>>
>>--
>>Vickram
>
>_____
>Arun Mehta, New Delhi, India. Phone +91-11-6841172,
>6849103.  mehta at vsnl.com www.radiophony.com www.indataportal.com
>www.necaindia.com
>
>
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-- 
Vickram