Special to the PVT Neil Konza, at left, an aide to Sen. Harry Reid, is joined by Esmeralda County Commissioner R.J. Gillum, Reid's Deputy Director for Southern Nevada Shannon Rayburn and Road Moses, owner of Radio Goldfield outside the low-power FM studio. Advertisement

GOLDFIELD -- A law firm representing various broadcasting giants has filed an objection to the Federal Communications Commission's granting of special temporary authority for Radio Goldfield to go on the air last summer.

Meanwhile, the operator of a Pahrump Internet radio station said he's been trying for seven years to get the same low-power FM license granted in Goldfield.

"The clear language of the commission's rules prohibits the commission from granting any application, including one for temporary operation, to an LPFM (low-power FM) applicant who has operated a pirate radio station," the Feb. 28 petition to the FCC reads. It was submitted by the law firm of Leventhal Senter and Lerman.

Rod Moses, owner of Radio Goldfield, KGFM-lp at 106.3 FM, said Leventhal Senter and Lerman represents a long list of clients including Citadel Communications Corporation, CBS, Beasley Broadcast Group, Great Scott Broadcasting, Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, Playboy Entertainment Group Inc., Telemundo, the WB Television Network and Viacom Inc.

The attorneys said they couldn't comment on the request for a special temporary application when it was granted by the FCC Jan. 29 because it wasn't advertised properly.

"As part of its proceeding, creating a low-power radio service, the commission considered the effect of past illegal, unlicensed broadcast operations upon an applicant's character qualifications," the petition said.

Moses began operating out of Goldfield in March 2005 but was shut down last June.

The petition refers to commission rules that state no unlicensed broadcaster who continued illegally broadcasting after Feb. 26, 1999, would be eligible for a low-power FM license.

Moses said when he applied for his special temporary authority, he was incorrectly instructed to download a form which dated from 2000 and didn't ask him if he ever illegally operated a radio station.

If the complaint sticks, Moses said he could simply designate another board member of Radio Goldfield Inc. as the licensee. Other board members include Goldfield residents Dominic Pappalardo, Phil Jones and Ron Johnson. He suggested that in an email to the FCC.

"I said if it would help the commission's position and the people of Goldfield, I will step down from the radio group and out of broadcasting entirely," he said.

Moses added he shut down the station in a gesture of compliance as soon as FCC enforcement agents raided it June 9, 2006.

The case has generated widespread interest across the country via Internet blogs. The Pahrump Valley Times received telephone inquiries about Moses' case from as far away as New Orleans, La., and Virginia Beach, Va. Radio Goldfield put together a petition drive and submitted it to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who wrote a letter of support about the station's community service in order to help get it back on the air.

The complaint by the broadcasters states the FCC may grant the special temporary authority if there are "extraordinary circumstances requiring temporary authorizations in the public interest." The attorneys questioned the extraordinary circumstances in this case.

Moses said it isn't odd that the major broadcasters are concerned about a little 100-watt power station in remote Goldfield. His case could open the floodgates to other prospective low-power FM stations.

Moses said he received a call from The Prometheus Project last week, which has offered him legal counsel and encouraged him to fight the petition. He believes the Radio Goldfield's case may be persuading the FCC to open the application process for low-power FM station licenses in areas like Goldfield.

"There's thousands of little towns all across America. This would be a viable means of communication for local news and this, that and the other," Moses said.

The special temporary authority granted is only good for six months. Moses said it expires July 29 and will have to be renewed. In the meantime he's added American Family News, an hourly news feed, to his programming.

"Our primary reason for the grant is for weather, road conditions and having the local authorities have access to communications with the people of Goldfield. That's the reason they granted it, not gospel music on Sunday," Moses said.

Harvey Caplan, owner of KPAH radio in Pahrump, was frustrated that Moses was able to get on the air, something he's been unable to do. Instead, KPAH has been transmitting over the Internet at www.pahrumpradio.com. Caplan said the National Association of Broadcasters is preventing community radio stations from going on the air.

"It's a money thing, nothing else. They at one time even prepared a bogus tape, supposedly an air check of interference to the large stations by the small ones, which turned out during an investigation by someone the FCC hired, it was a tape made by someone in a studio," Caplan said.

A signal for KPAH would only penetrate in Pahrump, he said.

"When the FCC developed low-power FM in 2000 they started accepting applications, and then almost immediately the NAB started lobbying Congress to get this process to stop," Caplan said. "They're afraid of us having community stations even though it wouldn't interfere with them."

Caplan said his Internet radio station has solar power and kept operating during the Jan. 13 outage.

"We can do anything we want on the Internet and we made friends all the way around the world," Caplan said. "We get gifts from people as far away as Spain, Kentucky, New Zealand."

While he appreciates the chance to air programs around the globe, Caplan would still prefer to be able to broadcast over the airwaves in Pahrump.

"It's heartbreaking, it really is. We've been writing letters and lobbying for seven years," he said. "We had two power outages, one major, one minor, in the space of two weeks, and it was in the winter. Cops had to go to the old people and ask 'Are you OK?'

"All we're trying to do is serve the public, and the big broadcasters just don't want any competition."

Speaking of Moses, he added, "I don't begrudge this guy, but he signed on two years illegally and he should be the last one to get a license."

When radio personality Art Bell went on the air with KNYE he acquired a full-blown commercial FM license. Caplan said that can cost a quarter-million dollars.