From: http://www.rac.ca/news/world.htm#US%20Amateur
US Amateur fined by FCC for malicious interference to VE7RPT Repeater
Months of hard work tracking various sources of malicious interference directed at the VE7RPTrepeater, owned and operated by the BCFMCA and located on Mt Seymour, have finally begun to pay off.
On September 25th the FCC issued a Notice of Apparent Liability, including fines totaling $7,000, to James Grinton, K7VNI, located in BellinghamWashington. A copy of this notice is attached for your information.
Grinton repeatedly and maliciously interfered with the operation of VE7RPTon a frequent basis. During the last 2 years Grinton directed his malicious interference and harassment at the President of the BCFMCA, jammed phone patches and periodically flooded the repeater with music and other forms of intentional interference.
In early 2006 a team of Canadian Hams began tracking the interfering signals and quickly determined they originated south of the Canada/US border. A group of Hams in the USwere approached to provide assistance and the source of the interference was identified shortly thereafter. A number of independent confirmations were made to verify the location, the address of which was determined to be that of James Grinton, K7VNI.
A complaint was formally made to the FCC regarding this interference and the information collected by the combined Canadian and US tracking team was provided to the Seattleoffice of the FCC. An agent from the FCC Enforcement Bureau’s Seattle Office independently verified the location and source of the interference during late 2006 and a Warning of Interference to Communications Letter was sent to James Grinton, K7VNI, on January 19, 2007.
Grinton continued to interfere with the operation of VE7RPTafter receipt of the warning letter. In fact, the Seattleagent recorded over 160 violations during the period January 19, 2007to June 23, 2007.
A Notice of Apparent Liability, including fines totaling $7,000, was issued to James Grinton, K7VNI, on September 25, 2007.
This is the second of a series of interference complaints affecting repeaters in the Greater Vancouver area to be brought to a conclusion. Additional interference investigations are on-going.
Many thanks to all the people who devoted countless hours tracking and identifying the source of this interference. This is an excellent example of the tremendous spirit of cooperation that exists between Amateur Radio operators in both Canadaand the US. In addition, many thanks to the Seattleoffice of the FCC for their support and subsequent enforcement action.
(Thanks to the Greater Vancouver Amateur Radio Council (GVARC) Interference Committee)
It is too bad there are nimrods out there that do these sort of things. The good out of this is the hard work done on both sides of the border to make a case, track down the adverse party and engage the authorities. Good job to all involved!
Cool, he got what he deserved. I’m sure the smart ass never thought he’d get popped so easily because the repeater was over the boarder. I can’t wait to see his lame response to the NAL, it’ll probably mention that since the repeater was in Industry Canada territory that the FCC had no authority to bust him. What an ass.
Excellent work by the many people involved.
The penalties in the U.S.A. appear to be more severe than in Canadia and the enforcement is much stronger.
I hope the people that have “jammed” my transmissions are aware of the penalties they face.
Uh oh… I hope a certain mentally unstable soon-to-be ex-ham from Chicago doesn’t go on QRZ and start accusing this site of siccing the FCC on this guy…
Oops! He’s already been booted off of QRZ! I guess the only voices he’ll be talking to are the ones in his head.
Congratulations to all involved in this action. Now, since both sides of the border have figured out how to cooperate, lets treat the imbeciles on 14.275 (on BOTH SIDES of the border) to the same treatment as our repeater jammer gent received!
Where is the teeth in the FCC anymore? I remember back when Federal teams would raid the house and seize equipment and throw the motherf&*ker in jail. Now they send him a letter saying that he owes $7K? Big deal!
And at what point does one commint a violation? 1 time? 2 times? 160 times? Gimme a break! Where is this imaginary line that people cross? Is 150 times just not good enough?
Thanks to the U.S. hams for taking care of our own back yard. Now if industry canada could do the same thing-all would be well.
BTW-7k may be chump change for you guys in 6 land, but it isn’t for the rest of us.
There is no way he can claim that the FCC does not have Jurisdiction over the case. The ham was operating in the United States.
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