http://www.jsonline.com/enter/tvradio/nov05/367404.asp Tim Cuprisin Nov. 1, 2005 Listeners to WXSS-FM (103.7) the last couple of days have been wondering what's going on with a supposed hacking of the Web site for the teen-skewing station better known as Kiss FM. If you went to www.1037kissfm.com on Tuesday, you saw a picture of a piece of paper with the hand-scrawled message reading: "I've got your 10 grand . . . I'll be in contact." Listeners heard stories of $10,000 being held for "ransom" and the supposed suspension of one of the morning gang, Wes McKane. Relax, it's just another wacky radio stunt. "It's called 'The Fugitive,' " explains program director Brian Kelly. "The first listener to find the fugitive will win $10,000." Kiss did a less elaborate version of the contest last year. By late Tuesday afternoon, Kiss deejays were dropping more hints about the competition, although the Web site remained held captive by the "note." And while we're talking stunts, Kiss' sister station, WMYX-FM (99.1), aired a wacky holiday radio stunt last year, broadcasting a bogus spot for a bogus power cooperative claiming that a ban on Christmas lights would feature fines levied "per bulb." The first rule of radio listening is that if you hear something that sounds weird, switch to another radio station. If they're not talking about it, it's likely to be happening only on that first station. Of course, the goal of these wacky radio stunts is to keep you listening. That's also the goal of radio contests. THE RULES FOR WACKINESS: The Federal Communications Commission has pretty loose guidelines about such stunts. FCC guidelines deal specifically with "broadcasting false information concerning a crime or a catastrophe," according to guidelines you can find at ftp.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/falsebroadcast.html. They're allowed, unless the broadcaster knows they're false, it's known before the stunt is aired that it will cause "substantial public harm" and the stunt actually does "directly cause substantial public harm." Interestingly, these rules date back to an incident that occurred 67 years ago this very week, the Oct. 30, 1938, Orson Welles broadcast of a version of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" that was made to sound like a news broadcast. It led to panic from radio listeners who thought Martians had actually invaded. If those folks had just turned to another station, they wouldn't have been quite so scared. [...] _________________________________________ Earn your Master's degree in Information Security ONLINE www.msia.norwich.edu/csi Study IA management practices and the latest infosec issues. Norwich University is an NSA Center of Excellence.
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