Sparked by an interview done for this story, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks conducting a much-needed audit of the Enforcement Action Database. The biggest changes involved harmonizing the counting methodology from year-to-year, and correcting scattered counting errors collected over a decade of compilation.
However, the revised figures show no significant change in the trends of late: more administrative penalties, less overall muscle, and the proliferation of stations continues. I will be the first to admit to sucking at math. Continue reading “Enforcement Action Database Revamp”
Category: Pirate Radio
N$X: Seeking Direction
I had a nice long chat with Rayon Payne earlier this week. He’s been up to some interesting stuff.
Payne’s latest project is Myspace Radio. The plan involves establishing a database of music from which users will be able to access and assemble playlists for free. Said playlists can then be streamed from anywhere. Payne describes it as akin to Shoutcast, except you’re in complete control of the programming.
Users will be able to upload and request new audio files and share their playlists with others, but they will not be able to download files. The system will log everything that’s played, with the appropriate streaming royalty payments to follow. The entire service will be free; Payne hopes to generate revenue via advertising. Continue reading “N$X: Seeking Direction”
Berkeley Liberation/Freak Radio Visit Photos
I visited Freak Radio Santa Cruz and Berkeley Liberation Radio earlier this month. Ironically, at neither location did I actually glimpse the transmitter. I wish I would have thought out in advance how to cover them. I did try to record some audio, but f*cked up the settings on my magic box.
Fortunately, the V-Man managed to tape the surprise visit from Poodles McGee of the FCC, who just so happened to be in town on vacation and wanted to see the infamous Freak Radio for himself. No harm done, though Poodles promised to return with “nasty-ass musclebound wacknuts to come and take your stuff away.”
I really wish I would have had more time. Many thanks to the V-Man, Skidmark Bob, Bradley, Phil, Matt, Cap’n Fred, Jane, and Arun for making it happen.
Making Waves Plays Chicago
Michael Lahey’s excellent, award-winning documentary on microbroadcasting, Making Waves, publicly screens for the first time in the Windy City next weekend at the Chicago Underground Film Festival. Actually, it’s playing twice, on 8/19 and 8/21. Check the new trailer before you go.
Michael recently moved to Chicago and may be around at the screenings for an afterward Q&A. If you can’t make the screenings, you can still check it out on Free Speech TV, where it’s been playing at least monthly. It’ll play five times on August 24th alone.
Bettendorf Pirates Receive $27k in Fines
The two principals behind the high-profile pirate “Power 103.3” in Bettendorf, Iowa have been handed stiff monetary forfeitures by the FCC. Matthew Britcher, self-proclaimed “promotions director” of the commercial-format station, is being asked to pay $17,000 for running the station and refusing an FCC agent’s request to inspect it. Jason Duncan, quoted in local media as a “co-owner,” received a $10,000 forfeiture.
This is the first FCC case to get this far in which the pirates invoked 47 CFR 73.3542 as a defense; this little-known statute allows for emergency broadcast services in times of war or national emergency. Britcher and Duncan called it the “War Powers Act,” and some other pirate stations are treating it as a license-free pass, but it is nothing of the sort. Continue reading “Bettendorf Pirates Receive $27k in Fines”
XM, Sirius Pull Pirate Transceivers
So it would appear that various models of mobile satellite radio receivers are indeed little pirate stations that can intermittently and over short ranges jam other FM radio stations as their owner/listeners drive around. A Securities and Exchange Commission filing made by XM this week discloses that XM and at least one receiver manufacturer have been contacted by the FCC about bringing certain models of mobile satellite receiver “into compliance” with “FCC emission standards.”
Aftermarket, add-on mobile receivers contain small FM transmitters that take the satellite signal and relay it to a car stereo tuned to a certain FM frequency. Similar kits are available to allow people to listen to other audio devices on the road. The National Association of Broadcasters says some models of these transceivers contain FM transmitters that are too powerful, and thus technically require licenses to operate. Interestingly, the NAB report suggests some of these devices may also interfere with the reception of digital “HD” radio signals, since these, in the words of its report, occupy
“vacant” adjacent channels, it is likely that these are the exact channels a user would choose upon which to operate one of these devices. To the user, the “noise” like HD Radio carrier appears to be a vacant channel. However, with the wide modulation capability and strong signal levels emitted by these devices, it is likely that significant interference to the much lower power HD Radio signals would be caused. Continue reading “XM, Sirius Pull Pirate Transceivers”
Microradio's Second Wave
The FCC has now conducted more enforcement actions against unlicensed AM and FM stations in the first half of 2006 than it did in the entirety of 2005, which broke all previous records for cat-and-mouse action. However, this milestone was reached by a bit of paperwork puffery on the part of the FCC. For example, as field agents hunted recent activity on San Francisco Liberation Radio‘s old frequency (93.7), they sent warning letters to two people and the owner/manager of the building they apparently live in. In the recent past, tagging one would have sufficed.
This year the FCC also broke its drought of issuing forfeiture (fine) notices to pirate stations. Four people have been presented with $10,000 government invoices so far this year, compared with none in 2005. Each case took at least a year to reach that level of escalation, and based on the FCC’s prior collection history, it will be lucky if it actually sees dough from half of them. Continue reading “Microradio's Second Wave”
Classic British Ex-pirate Pays Ransom, Expands Audience
The legendary Radio Caroline has for years been engaged in rebuilding itself, in hopes of perhaps securing a broadcast license and even, just maybe, broadcasting again from studios onboard one of its former ship-homes. It claims to have taken a major step toward this recently when it secured the rights to be heard over Sky Digital, the dominant satellite TV provider in the U.K. Sky dwarfs its cable and satellite-based competitors, reaching some 29 million British homes. Caroline is now heard on Sky Digital channel 0199, in homage to the original pirate station’s broadcast wavelength of 199 meters (~1510 KHz). Continue reading “Classic British Ex-pirate Pays Ransom, Expands Audience”
Pirate Radio USA Premieres
The latest feature-length film on the U.S. microradio movement got good reviews at the Bermuda International Film Festival, which called Pirate Radio USA “a fun, clever documentary that challenges the belief that Americans have freedom of speech.” One review called it “wicked funny“; another made a positive comparison to Pump Up the Volume. Large Bloody Marys were also consumed, a near-guarantee of fun for all involved. Continue reading “Pirate Radio USA Premieres”
Crashing Propaganda: Miami Redux
The standard line, “pirate stations interfere with airplanes,” has been quickly assimilated into the TV news groupthink of Miami. Earlier this month CBS 4 ran a relatively long story on the busting of “Radio Energy,” a Haitian station in North Miami. The actual video report is pretty sick.
Although reporter Ileana Varela explicitly states more than once that the particular station serving as the hook of her story was not alleged to have interfered with anything, Varela kicks off her report with the threat unlicensed stations pose to air traffic communications, something the anchor-banter leading into the story calls “a problem police say is growing and as a result putting the community at risk.” Placement of information is a key element of reportage, especially in a medium as time-constrained and punchy as television news. Continue reading “Crashing Propaganda: Miami Redux”