The home of Radio and TV Noordzee, built for more than $5 million in 1964, 10km off the Netherlands coast, is slated for demolition. The stations operated for just four months before changes in the territorial waters limit expanded Dutch jurisdiction to the offshore platform and led to its forced closure.
All was not lost, however: Radio-TV Noordzee helped spawn what has become one of the Netherlands’ largest public broadcast foundations. According to Radio Netherlands, there is a small chance “REM Island” could be saved: Continue reading “Dutch Ex-Radio/TV Fort Heading for Deconstruction?”
Category: Pirate Radio
More Audio Online
As the Truthful Translations counter up top shows, there’s now one cut online for every day of the year. Central to this particular update is the prolific Scott Walmsley, who’s also done up a Celebrity Speech collage on everybody’s favorite TV blowhard, Bill O’Reilly (described by Walmsley as “a major f*ck head”).
There’s also new free media-themed music online: Brooklyn-based Gun Street Radio pays homage to Radio Caroline while SD punks Cheap Sex screams foul about the FCC’s ongoing anti-indecency crusade.
St. Petersburg's Pirate Radio Network Down But Not Out
Bob Noxious has two brass ones: after a scant two months on the air and scads of publicity to show for it, the FCC showed up the day before April Fool’s and told him to shut up. He has complied – for now –
Although we will have to endure a short time of static on the radio, we won’t be silenced for long. Thanks to modern technology…when the PIRATE RADIO NETWORK returns, [the station] will be broadcast from MULTIPLE transmitters in numerous locations throughout the area. Not only will that expand the listening area, but it will be with a much crisper and cleaner signal. Lets see how many transmitters the F.C.C. can shut down at one time! Continue reading “St. Petersburg's Pirate Radio Network Down But Not Out”
Neighborhood Public Radio Hits the Road
After several successful runs in San Francisco Neighborhood Public Radio now plans to play out. Way out: the station will broadcast from Version in Chicago later this month. This is apparently the start of a “process of realizing the dream we have always had of bringing NPR to cities all over the world.” NPR’s latest thematic run involved indecency and ran through most of February. Interestingly, they are not the only traveling microstation in circulation at the moment.
Liberation Radio Loses Seizure Challenge, Plans Appeal
A somewhat skimpy story notes the ruling against SFLR‘s challenge came down on March 14. Alan Korn has graciously provided 
a copy. It’s grim reading: first and fourth amendment arguments are bounced, and District Court Judge Susan Ilston avoids the station’s direct challenge to FCC rules with the jurisdictional wiggle (“that issue belongs in D.C., not with me”).
The station’s attorney, Mark Vermeulen, hopes for better things at the Ninth Circuit: “Courts of Appeals have more leverage in establishing new precedents.” Yet the two most successful microbroadcast cases ever litigated, involving Free Radio Berkeley and Radio Free Brattleboro, scored their victories at the district court level. Continue reading “Liberation Radio Loses Seizure Challenge, Plans Appeal”
Pirate News on Podcast
Recently stumbled across Pirates Week, a podcast which collects news about unlicensed broadcasting from around the ‘net and posts new editions weekly. There’s also a show blog, although the two aren’t reciprocally linked. As of now the content’s kind of thin but it’s great to see someone doing it.
Miscellaneous Link of Note Stew
Air Jesus: With The Evangelical Air Force – from Media Transparency. Forget not, most translator-mongers are christian soldiers. Also see Bush Picks New FCC Chairman, Conservatives Hail Decision.
Pop Defect Radio: 10 Years (A Pirate’s Life) – in celebration of Freak Radio’s 10th birthday this month. Also see Free Radio Berkeley 2005 workshop schedule. Continue reading “Miscellaneous Link of Note Stew”
Liberation Radio Plans Appeal
Another strange day in court for the folks at San Francisco Liberation Radio. This morning they got another chance to argue their case in front of federal district judge Susan Illston: this time the station’s legal team emphasized that it has eight years’ worth of correspondence with the FCC, which should (at some level) make their case somehow different, and their argument against the station raid and seizure process somehow more compelling.
Karoline Hatch wrote in an update: Continue reading “Liberation Radio Plans Appeal”
Scene Report: Florida
Amateurs on the offensive: The American Radio Relay League has formally petitioned the FCC to nullify Florida’s anti-pirate law passed last year. Not because hams like pirates, but because they’re afraid the law’s so broadly written that any amateur who inadvertently interferes could be branded a criminal. ARRL’s 10-page Request for Declaratory Ruling is an excellent encapsulation of the legislative and judicial history for why laws like Florida’s shouldn’t be on the books.
Meanwhile, some clenching reporter from a Fort Myers TV station put together an “exposé” of a local hip-hop pirate station using indecency as a hook, complete with bleeped clips and the shocked reaction of a (white) mother’s face after she tuning in for the cameras. 
The reporter, with help from a local commercial radio station worried about the pirate’s effect on its listenership, went so far as to track down the transmission location. It also calls use of the internet as STL a growing trend.
Florida Media Complains: "Didn't We Outlaw Them?"
Two recent articles profile the appearance of new pirate stations in the state. One is relatively straightforward, the other reads like a Puritan beef. The latter station profiled, Dream Team Radio, covers multiple cities with two frequencies. It also has turned the “safe harbor” concept on its head – broadcasting “N-words and F-bombs” during the day and going to “love songs generally free of raunch” overnight.
When the media starts bitching the FCC (and, in the state of Florida, licensed broadcasters and law enforcement) are likely to take notice and make some examples of somebody. Perhaps that somebody will be Doug Brewer, formerly of Tampa’s Party Pirate fame, who closes out the first article with a somewhat damning cameo: Continue reading “Florida Media Complains: "Didn't We Outlaw Them?"”