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                   DISSENTING STATEMENT OF
                COMMISSIONER MICHAEL J. COPPS


Re:  Infinity Broadcasting Operations Inc., licensee of 
WKRK-FM, Detroit Michigan, Notice of Apparent Liability for 
Forfeiture

     I dissent from the Commission's decision today to 
provide a slap on the wrist rather than take serious action 
to address the indecency on our airwaves.  In this decision, 
the Commission proposes a fine of $27,500 against this 
multi-billion dollar media conglomerate.  

     I am troubled by several aspects of this decision that 
demonstrate the Commission is not yet taking a strong stand 
against indecency on the airwaves.  First, the Commission 
fined this very same station last year for airing some of 
the most vulgar and disgusting material I have had the 
misfortune to examine since I joined the Commission.  In 
both that decision and this Order, the Commission warned 
Infinity that additional violations may well lead to the 
initiation of a license revocation proceeding.  Some may 
argue that the program at issue today pre-dated the 
broadcast addressed last year, which only serves to 
demonstrate the need to consider complaints in a more timely 
manner.  Moreover, the statute does not require notice to 
begin a license revocation hearing.      

     Second, the Commission recently reaffirmed that its 
indecency enforcement will address not only the station that 
is the subject of a complaint, but also any other station 
that aired the same programming.  Yet here, the Commission 
proposes a fine against only WKRK-FM in Detroit 
notwithstanding that this program airs on numerous stations 
across the country.  

The time has come for the Commission to send a message that 
it is serious about enforcing its indecency rules.