Earl from Philly punksters The Ray Gradys dropped a to let me know they’d recorded an updated version of their song, “Pirate Radio,” and sent along an MP3 to share.
Damn, they’ve gotten a lot tighter since 1999 and the 40 Hour Slave E.P., though I’m still kind of partial to the rawness of the earlier version. A recent sweep for dead/broken links has led to the restoration of all of the featured mp3s in the archive. Get ’em before the RIAA busts me (six years and counting!). Continue reading “Recent Audio Goodness”
Category: Pirate Radio
Super Bowl Pirates Fined $12,000
Most pirates in the United States operate on sporadic schedules. The 24/7 in-your-face operations may be the best-known and most-heralded, but the vast majority of unlicensed broadcasting is done on the sly in the hopes of staying under the FCC’s radar.
The rules are different, however, if the broadcast piracy involves professional sports. A nebulous outfit called Global Radio, Inc. operated pirate stations on multiple frequencies during this year’s Super Bowl and got away with it with a slap on the wrist compared to what most busted microradio stations receive.
Global Radio reportedly specializes in “event broadcast services” and applied to the FCC for six “experimental” FM licenses for use inside San Diego, CA’s Qualcomm Stadium. These temporary stations would give fans in the stands their choice of play-by-play announcer teams to listen to. Game details would be broadcast to the surrounding parking lot and little radios were even set up in the stadium’s bathrooms, so fans wouldn’t have to miss a second of the action on the field. Continue reading “Super Bowl Pirates Fined $12,000”
Dutch Pirate Police Launch Major Crackdown; FCC Enforcement Stats Skew Toward Thuggery
The Netherlands is a small country: about 13,000 square miles, not quite twice the size of the state of New Jersey. But within its borders the Netherlands boasts one of the most vibrant pirate radio scenes in Europe, behind Italy and the United Kingdom. Literally hundreds of Dutch FM pirates are on the air, some running power levels measured in the kilowatts. There is also a thriving shortwave scene.
Until recently the Dutch government’s radiocommunications enforcement agency, Agentschap Telecom (AT), played lots of cat-and-mouse with pirate broadcasters. Most only got pressure to shut down if they were causing interference, although sporadic enforcement offensives have occurred over the last few years.
This has all changed with “Project Etherflits,” AT’s year-long pirate-hunting spree that kicked off in March. So far nearly 80 stations have been nabbed, including one simultaneous raid on 10 stations last month. Project Etherflits has led to the confiscation of gear galore and fines to station operators ranging between $1,200-$2,600 apiece. The pirates are reportedly organizing public protests in hopes of convincing lawmakers to rein in the hounds. Continue reading “Dutch Pirate Police Launch Major Crackdown; FCC Enforcement Stats Skew Toward Thuggery”
Verbal Skirmish w/FCC in San Diego
Free Radio San Diego got a visit from the FCC on Friday; part of the encounter was caught on tape.
Listen to the encounter (MP3, 1:56, 912K)
The FRSD folk seem pretty feisty! Continue reading “Verbal Skirmish w/FCC in San Diego”
Dunifer Publishes New Version of Micropower Broadcasting: A Technical Primer
Free Radio Berkeley founder Stephen Dunifer updates his easy-to-read handbook with information on digital audio production and webcasting and the new realities of operating a microradio station in post-millenial America. Download it here (632K, .pdf format).
Its 25 pages are packed with useful information that thoroughly describes what you need to operate your basic microradio station and the general science behind FM broadcasting. It also includes schematics and circuit board layouts for most major components.
After moving his workshop last year, Dunifer is now also offering the use of his facilities for anyone interested in building their own rigs. It sounds like the 3-5 day project is a more detailed version of the transmitter-building workshops Dunifer and his crew have frequently run in the past.
Unexpected Trip to San Francisco
Work on re-starting regular content updates remains suspended, as I still don’t have online access from home yet. Additionally, I’ll be away from home for most of the weekend, on the campus of Stanford University for a one-day conference Saturday on broadband, digital media technologies, and the future control of it all.
If you happen to attend, I’ll be speaking on two panels: the morning one will involve labor and the media, while the afternoon panel involves “wireless, wi-fi and microradio,” and will also feature members of Berkeley Liberation Radio and San Francisco Liberation Radio. Continue reading “Unexpected Trip to San Francisco”
Election Update
Alas, neither his rhetorical savvy nor the last-minute endorsement of DIYmedia was enough to help Kelly Benjamin claim victory in his candidacy for a seat on the Tampa City Council. Kelly did, however, garner 13,955 votes, just a little shy of one-third of all ballots cast.
It might be a statistical defeat, but not too shabby considering Kelly was outspent by an approximate 30-to-1 margin (or more), and citywide voter turnout was an abysmal 33%.
Next try, the White House?
Free Radio Networks Against War
Last weekend’s global anti-war protests were streamed live by various Independent Media Centers around the world, and voices for peace bypassed corporate media filters to give reports straight from the streets.
Many pirates picked up the various IMC feeds and rebroadcast them to their communities: the impromptu network had affiliates the U.S., U.K., Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany, to name those we know of. All of the rebroadcasts took place on the FM dial. Could’ve been bigger – maybe next time.
Miscellaneous site news: a third gallery of media collage is now online. This one features works that use adverts as ammo and poke the eyes of consumer culture.
Microbroadcaster Gets 4 Months Home Detention
Benjamin Leroy Carter once ran a station in Orlando, Florida. After “complaints from residents and broadcasters…of interference to the reception of licensed radio broadcast stations,” the FCC swooped in. The good news is it took nearly four years for the agency to follow through.
The actual sentence – after pleading guilty to seven counts of unlicensed broadcasting – was 18 months’ probation (of which four are home detention) and 50 hours of community service. Sounds like the FCC didn’t think they’d be able to squeeze dough out of Carter, who becomes (to our knowledge) the second microbroadcaster to be criminally convicted and sentenced for broadcasting without a license.
Miscellaneous Piracy Afoot
Some scene reports to share:
Steamboat Springs, CO – “We went on the air about 9 PM Friday (1/30) and took things down at 11 AM Sunday (2/2). The X-mitter was a North Country MPX-96 feeding 2 modified and filtered Radio Shack HTX-10 amplifiers in series. Power out was ~30 watts into a wire 1/2 wave dipole on the balcony of a 2nd story ski-in/ski-out condo about 500 vertical feet above town and 200 feet above the base of the resort. Coverage was excellent as you could imagine. Covered downtown and the whole resort area, didn’t drive far enough to lose the signal. Oh, and the snow was OK, skiing great, and weather WARM.”
Boulder, CO – There has been some sort of split within the Boulder Free Radio organization. Most of the station’s founders are now working on an internet-only radio station presumably called “Real Public Radio.” New folks now have the transmitter; their intentions are unknown. Continue reading “Miscellaneous Piracy Afoot”