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Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Waives becoming a tsunami

Did you see the FCC's latest wholesale waiving of the rules? They've granted the appeals of 44 applicants who didn't get forms filed on time. Mostly, it's just a follow-up to Bishop Perry, but it pushes things a little further.

First the FCC laid down some guidelines: "Petitioners assert a waiver is appropriate for one of two reasons: (1) someone on the applicants’ staff failed to file on time due to misunderstanding or personal emergencies, or (2) the delay in the filing or the receipt by USAC of the FCC Form 471 was due to circumstances out of the applicants’ control."

OK, that's mighty lenient, but leniency is good.

However, in grouping the appeals, the FCC create a group of applicants who “indicate that relevant members inadvertently failed to file the application forms in a timely manner.” This seems to be saying that you don’t even have to say the dog ate your 471; just say “oops” and you get a waiver.

Check out the appeal from Easton Public School. It was filed 4 months after the window closed, and offers no reason why the form was not filed.

I’m all for leniency, but I’m starting to feel like a sucker for working so hard to get 471s in on time.

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