The 2010 Burning Man Project is now underway, and for the past 10 years the impromptu desert-community tunes to their FM dial for the Project’s unique brand of infotainment.
Burning Man Information Radio, a derivation/evolution of what used to be Radio Free Burning Man, got a nice writeup in the New York Times over the weekend about its operations. Continue reading “Burning Man Radio Now Live and Global”
Category: Pirate Radio
Miscellaneous News of Note
A crash-course in the dramaturgy of media studies has the mind fully occupied at the moment, but not quite busy enough to do other stuff quasi-related to this site: Continue reading “Miscellaneous News of Note”
"Unfortunately People Go to Jail Now" – Not
It’s always a little sad when a pirate radio station throws in the towel, either from implosion, disorganization or, more likely, a little fear placed into the stations’ operators by the Federal Communications Commission.
Unfortunately, FCCFREE RADIO in San Francisco is now on the list of casualties, after field agents paid the station’s proprietor, John Miller, a visit. According to reaction from Radio Survivor, Miller opines “that times really have changed for pirate radio, saying, ‘Unfortunately people go to jail now.'”
Okay, just stop right there, and 
read this. (If you’re interested in the full legal history of pirate radio in the U.S., read this). Continue reading “"Unfortunately People Go to Jail Now" – Not”
Scene Report: California
Skidmark Bob e-mailed recently to let me know that Freak Radio Santa Cruz is hunting for a new broadcast-home (yet again). The FCC dropped a warning-letter on the owner of the property hosting the station’s transmitter (a common tactic that’s gained popularity in recent years), who was duly unnerved and prompted the box to travel.
In spite of last year’s schism, the station appears to be on strong footing and Bob’s confident they’ll have a spot post-haste. Given that Freak Radio long separated its studio from transmitter, the comfy digs remain intact, and the station’s still streaming online. Continue reading “Scene Report: California”
FCC Field Enforcement: Fourth Amendment Still Rules, Apparently
Last year, in response to coverage that the FCC felt it had the authority to conduct warrantless searches of private property in its objective to clear the airwaves of unauthorized activity, the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a Freedom of Information Act Request with the agency. It asked the FCC to somehow rectify the quandary between its self-stated authority and the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which protects the public from “unreasonable” (i.e., unwarranted) searches and seizures.
Last month, the FCC responded to the EFF’s FOIA request, releasing a small cache of well-redacted documents related to the agency’s field investigation techniques. In a document entitled “Basic Investigation Techniques – On-Scene Overview,” the Commission seems to make its position clear: “Agents should never trespass on private property. You do have legal authority to inspect any radio station (broadcast, land mobile, amateur, etc.) at any time; however, you should contact the property owner to gain access.” In a later chapter, properly entitled “Limits of Authority,” the prohibition against trespassing is further articulated and specifies that FCC field agents may be held criminally liable if break this law. Continue reading “FCC Field Enforcement: Fourth Amendment Still Rules, Apparently”
Enforcement Action Update: East Coast Booming
The Enforcement Action Database is up-to-date again; so far for the year the FCC is running at blatant record pace with regard to enforcement actions – 235 as of mid-May, while 2009 saw a cumulative enforcement action total of 445. If this pace continues, 2010 may be the first year in which the FCC cracks 500 enforcement actions.
Taking a closer look at the data, the methodology of field enforcement remains the same – lots and lots of station-visits and threatening letters, but nothing in the way of raids and seizures, and very little in the way of monetary penalties. The practice of stats-enforcement is also still in full effect; for example, a whopping four warning letters were sent to different individuals in two states for the same unlicensed FM station in Brockton, Massachusetts. Continue reading “Enforcement Action Update: East Coast Booming”
Pirate Radio: DVD Beats Feature
I just got around to watching my Netflix-delivered DVD of Pirate Radio. If you saw it in the theater, you missed out on some of the best parts.
The movie, at best (in the feature-cut), is a fast-paced cluster of vignettes loosely tied around a family/love story, lavish with music from the offshore pirate era and an ending that even teared me up a bit. The ensemble works brilliantly. The fact the movie revolves around the concept of pirate radio, and the ship itself, acted more as a set-piece than a central plot device. Which is why many reviews praised it, mostly, for its music. Continue reading “Pirate Radio: DVD Beats Feature”
More Miscellaneous News of Note
About a week and a half left until dissertation-research formally concludes. Then a short break after which it’s time to organize the ~800 pages of notes collected from FCC dockets, trade publications, and related materials into formal prose. In the meantime:
Pirate Radio: Pally-pal Paul Riismandel wrote two excellent articles this week for Radio Survivor on unlicensed broadcasting. The first looks at a spate of FCC enforcement actions in Massachusetts, and especially around the Boston area. Continue reading “More Miscellaneous News of Note”
Unlicensed Broadcasting OK in Oklahoma?
Not quite…but it’s an interesting sidebar nonetheless.
A bill called the “Communications Freedom Act” would restrict the FCC’s authority in the Sooner State to license and/or otherwise regulate broadcast stations whose signals do not leave the state, effective November first of this year. The bill was introduced late last month and referred to the Oklahoma House’s Economic Development and Financial Services Committee.
According to the bill’s sponsor, Republican State Rep. Charles Key, “The federal government is out of control. It’s violated it’s role in regards to the Constitution. The government has become a predator of sorts and it’s become a law until itself.” And thus, low-power radio should be allowed to flourish where stations’ signals do not cross state lines. Continue reading “Unlicensed Broadcasting OK in Oklahoma?”
War on Pirates in 2009: (Paper) Fur Flies Furiously
For the ninth year in a row, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau has broken its record for the number of enforcement actions taken against unlicensed broadcasters in any given calendar year. 429 enforcement actions spanning 22 states have been catalogued; there are likely to be some stragglers into the database but 2009 goes into the books as the year of the one-armed paper-hanger.
The numbers themselves are relatively unsurprising. Enforcement actions in 2009 were more geographically-concentrated (Florida, New York and New Jersey accounted for nearly 63% of all enforcement actions), but unlicensed broadcast activity was reported coast-to-coast. Continue reading “War on Pirates in 2009: (Paper) Fur Flies Furiously”