Hundreds of illegal radio service operators petitioned the Legislative Yuan, Executive Yuan and National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday, asking the government to stop a crackdown on illegal operators and to instead allow them to apply for legal operating licenses.
They also asked the government to reserve about 40 percent of the radio spectrum for unregistered radio operators, to be used by as many as 60 new operators.
The move came in the wake of a directive issued by Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) earlier this month to crack down on fake and substandard medicine the government said is easily available on underground radio stations and Internet sites.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Talking to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) at the legislature, Chinese Internet and Multimedia Association chairman Hsu An-chin (?i) described the existence of underground radio stations as a “historical glitch” and called on the government to come up with measures to help the operators obtain legal licenses.
In response, Wang said the government decided to crack down on illegal stations because many advertise and sell counterfeit and controlled drugs, several of which have been linked to kidney failure and other health problems.
Wang said he hoped the NCC would look into ways to address the illegal operators’ desire to become legal and above board.
The protesters proceeded to the NCC at around 1pm yesterday where ten representatives, led by Hsu, met with the NCC officials and submitted their petitions.
NCC spokesperson Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉) said the commission is amending the Broadcasting and Television Act (廣播電視法) because it wants to solve long-standing problems with the illegal radio services.
“Both the Presidential Office and the Executive Yuan are acutely aware of the fact that these illegal operators use public frequencies and the consequences of them doing so and want to settle this issue as soon as possible,” Chen said.
Noting that the radio spectrum is a public asset, Chen said the government must give out operational licenses according to existing laws.
“The law does not assign any frequency to anyone,” he continued. “Owners of illegal radio stations should file applications as soon as the commission promulgates new rules governing the issuance of operational licenses.”
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