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For me this is the most infuriating part: > The Commission does not collect criminal fines for violations of section 227. > If a party fails to pay a forfeitur

For me this is the most infuriating part: > The Commission does not collect criminal fines for violations of section 227. > If a party fails to pay a forfeiture, we refer the matter to the U.S. Department of Justice for further enforcement action. We have referred to the Department of Justice forfeiture orders involving violations of section 227 by Adrian Abramovich, Marketing Strategy Leaders, Inc., and Marketing Leaders, Inc. (Abramovich), Philip Roesel, dba Wilmington Insurance Quotes, and Best Insurance Contracts, Inc. (Roesel), Affordable Enterprises of Arizona, LLC, and Scott Rhodes a.k.a. Scott David Rhodes, Scott D. Rhodes, Scott Platek, Scott P. Platek (Rhodes). 34 During calendar year 2020, the Attorney General did not collect any forfeiture penalties or criminal fines for violations of section 227 cases that the Commission has referred. We lack knowledge about the U.S. Department of Justice’s collections beyond those cases. It said earlier that these entities owe tens of millions of dollars in forfeitures. Why were they not collected? If these criminals know that there’s no penalty, they’ll continue acting badly. (And we can see already that they do this. They change names and start over.)

xxpor 5y ago
Are you upset about the lack of criminal penalties imposed directly by the FCC? That's mostly just an organizational issue. The FCC isn't law enforcement. They can only impose civil penalties. Referring the issue to the Justice dept is really the only thing they can do. I think this goes for all independent agencies. Of course, once it's referred over there, it goes in the big tumbler of prioritization for the FBI/US Attorneys.... and I'm not shocked they wouldn't immediately jump on a non-violent, extremely technically complex case.
- ncphil 5y ago
  Can't help but think that if marijuana decriminalization/legalization finally happens, law enforcement will be rooting around for other low hanging fruit. Seems like this just might fit the bill. Imagining heavily armed SWAT teams breaking down the doors of call centers and swarming in. On that happy note...
  - micromacrofoot 5y ago
    based on how law enforcement has worked historically it probably depends on the racial demographics and political leanings of the perpetrators
    - MisterBastahrd 5y ago
      Then they're in luck, because call center employees have exactly the demographics you would expect at low-paying jobs with high turnover, long hours and no benefits.
    - yeetaccount4 5y ago
      I’ve met plenty of people across the spectrum for minor (and a few major) drug offences. None of them were rich though.
      - dhosek 5y ago
        Although possession of a joint will end up with harsher penalties if you're black or Latino than if you're white.
        dvtrn 5y ago
        Raises hand First hand statistic attesting to it, watched it happen right before my eyes in a Texas court (except the other kid was being charged with his second DUI).
  - kova12 5y ago
    You also need to decriminalize heroin, meth, and crack cocaine among others before feds would start looking for more work
    - wolrah 5y ago
      > You also need to decriminalize heroin, meth, and crack cocaine among others before feds would start looking for more work Cops specifically love weed being illegal because they can "smell weed" and use that as a justification for a lot of things.
- bluGill 5y ago
  They should jump on all cases. That their job is hard is not an excuse to not do it.
  - jrockway 5y ago
    It's a resource issue. You should run for office on the platform of raising taxes to hire more investigators to collect FCC fines. Let me know how that goes for you.
    - mlyle 5y ago
      Presumably we could pay for collecting tens of millions of dollars in forfeitures by ... collecting tens of millions of dollars in forfeitures.
      - jrockway 5y ago
        You need to front the capital to start the investigation, though. This is like saying that you can pay for asteroid mining by mining asteroids. That's true! You just need a few billion dollars to mine that first asteroid. Like startups, criminal prosecutions don't have a 100% success rate. The system, despite its flaws, has a lot of protection for defendants. So you're basically asking the taxpayers to speculate on your pet project. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
        mlyle 5y ago
        > Like startups, criminal prosecutions don't have a 100% success rate. Here we're primarily talking about collecting civil forfeitures. DOJ can go scoop up assets they find, and defendants can try and claw them back (and the DOJ only requires a preponderance of the evidence to keep the money).
    - criddell 5y ago
      There's more than one way to handle that. Maybe the fines could be used to pay for future prosecutions? Or maybe let the justice department outsource prosecution to private sector attorneys who can keep most of what they win? Doesn't California do something similar for ADA cases?

xxpor 5y ago

Are you upset about the lack of criminal penalties imposed directly by the FCC? That's mostly just an organizational issue. The FCC isn't law enforcement. They can only impose civil penalties. Referring the issue to the Justice dept is really the only thing they can do. I think this goes for all independent agencies. Of course, once it's referred over there, it goes in the big tumbler of prioritization for the FBI/US Attorneys.... and I'm not shocked they wouldn't immediately jump on a non-violent, extremely technically complex case.

ncphil 5y ago
Can't help but think that if marijuana decriminalization/legalization finally happens, law enforcement will be rooting around for other low hanging fruit. Seems like this just might fit the bill. Imagining heavily armed SWAT teams breaking down the doors of call centers and swarming in. On that happy note...
- micromacrofoot 5y ago
  based on how law enforcement has worked historically it probably depends on the racial demographics and political leanings of the perpetrators
  - MisterBastahrd 5y ago
    Then they're in luck, because call center employees have exactly the demographics you would expect at low-paying jobs with high turnover, long hours and no benefits.
  - yeetaccount4 5y ago
    I’ve met plenty of people across the spectrum for minor (and a few major) drug offences. None of them were rich though.
    - dhosek 5y ago
      Although possession of a joint will end up with harsher penalties if you're black or Latino than if you're white.
      - dvtrn 5y ago
        Raises hand First hand statistic attesting to it, watched it happen right before my eyes in a Texas court (except the other kid was being charged with his second DUI).
- kova12 5y ago
  You also need to decriminalize heroin, meth, and crack cocaine among others before feds would start looking for more work
  - wolrah 5y ago
    > You also need to decriminalize heroin, meth, and crack cocaine among others before feds would start looking for more work Cops specifically love weed being illegal because they can "smell weed" and use that as a justification for a lot of things.
bluGill 5y ago
They should jump on all cases. That their job is hard is not an excuse to not do it.
- jrockway 5y ago
  It's a resource issue. You should run for office on the platform of raising taxes to hire more investigators to collect FCC fines. Let me know how that goes for you.
  - mlyle 5y ago
    Presumably we could pay for collecting tens of millions of dollars in forfeitures by ... collecting tens of millions of dollars in forfeitures.
    - jrockway 5y ago
      You need to front the capital to start the investigation, though. This is like saying that you can pay for asteroid mining by mining asteroids. That's true! You just need a few billion dollars to mine that first asteroid. Like startups, criminal prosecutions don't have a 100% success rate. The system, despite its flaws, has a lot of protection for defendants. So you're basically asking the taxpayers to speculate on your pet project. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
      - mlyle 5y ago
        > Like startups, criminal prosecutions don't have a 100% success rate. Here we're primarily talking about collecting civil forfeitures. DOJ can go scoop up assets they find, and defendants can try and claw them back (and the DOJ only requires a preponderance of the evidence to keep the money).
  - criddell 5y ago
    There's more than one way to handle that. Maybe the fines could be used to pay for future prosecutions? Or maybe let the justice department outsource prosecution to private sector attorneys who can keep most of what they win? Doesn't California do something similar for ADA cases?