On Monday, the House of Representatives unanimously passed the PIRATE Act, which provides the FCC with tough new enforcement measures to combat illegal pirate radio operations. It now moves on to the Senate. Here’s what the President of the New York State Association of Broadcasters, David Donovan, had to say about the Act passing the House…
“This is an important day for American consumers who rely on legally licensed stations for lifesaving news and information. Every day listeners in New York City are subject to the harms of illegal stations. These illegal stations interfere with EAS alerts, disrupt vital airport communications, spew RFR radiation into communities in excess of government standards, broadcast content that violates FCC regulations, and ignore all consumer protection laws. Passing the bill constitutes a milestone in the effort to eliminate pirate stations. We urge members of the Senate to take quick action on this bi-partisan bill. The FCC’s ability to police the airwaves has been severely compromised in a number of markets, including New York City, Miami, Northern New Jersey, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Connecticut. The problem is spreading. The FCC must regain control over the radio spectrum. Time is of the essence.”
If approved by the full Congress, The PIRATE Act will increase fines to up to $2 million, hold those who knowingly assist pirate stations accountable, provide for spectrum enforcement sweeps in markets with the most illegal stations, and create an easy-to-use list of licensed stations and illegal stations that have received enforcement.
It still humors me How Mr. Donovan literally has no knowledge of radio or it’s effects on people. “Spewing harmful RF radiation all over in excess of Gov Standards”. Does this clown know how much RF those big 50 Kw sometimes 100 Kw powerhouses are spewing? The idea any pirates is exceeding that is very unlikely. VHF radio radiation doesn’t penetrate like microwave radiation. If VHF had that kind of harm to the public none of us hams would be allowed to transmit either. The FCC is crying for more funding and the NAB and other corporate broadcasters are throwing tantrums because the little guys are getting the best of them, and people are liking them over the filtered, regulated, censored, same 10 songs every day and night satellite/automation fed corporate. He also emphasizes the “life saving news” of their licensed stations. Hard to get that when their is no talent to broadcast it. If you look, they have already stripped the so called “PIRATE Act” bill down considerably from what it originally was, meaning Donovan and his cronies knew it likely wouldn’t fly. Projections are 21% it might get enacted. Money grab. FCC can’t handle it alone. Which simply tells the pirates they need to step up their act a bit and thus beating the FCC will continue. The fines mean nothing. You cannot squeeze money out of a turnip. New technology is here. You cannot stop progress.
Good, now we know that N.Y. broadcaster David Donovan is a confirmed Trumpster. If Mr. Donovan believed in a democratic radio he would use his office to free the airwaves from near complete corporate domination of the airwaves and let the smaller non-rich community broadcasters have their fair share. Wouldn’t Mr. Donovan serve America better if he did something useful and positive like breaking up Cumulus which owns 459 station in 90 markets at last count? But in San Francisco alone, Cumulus owns four of the most powerful signals in the a.m. dial plus two more on f.m. They hold the licenses of two sports stations; which sometimes airs the same program at the same time. Meanwhile San Francisco a.m. radio is dreadfully bad in presenting news at any level–dreadful because of a lack of reporting in this area filled with countless unreported stories that Cumulus and their ilk ignore. Yet, Mr. Donovan rails against ‘pirate’ stations. But lets give him the benefit of the doubt….after all he might be waiting for Trump to appoint him to the next opening of the FCC commission.
……Eddie Ytuarte, Oakland Ca.
I must disagree with Mr De Felice that any increased enforcement regarding sales of transmitters would have a meaningful impact against Pirate Radio. I have seen many pirate radio stations running an old FM exciter as the transmitter, or a legal Part 15 transmitter with a power amp. The equipment is too easy to obtain to stop it with mere marketing enforcement. Blaming the equipment is like blaming guns for gun violence. Its not the equipment, it the “culture”. If you consider the history of FCC giving up enforcement on various radio services, it started in the 70s with CB radio, then the Amateur bands, and now FM broadcast. FCC giving up on Part 90 below 512 MHz is underway now. FCC has lost sight of its primary mission, which was to be the traffic police the airways. As for the Pirate Radio Act…well good luck with that. Until FCC starts seizing equipment on the first offense, we are wasting time….
While the PIRATE Act is an admirable attempt to help calm the escalation of illegal radio activity on the broadcast bands it is severely flawed in several aspects.
If anyone were truly serious about wanting to stop the proliferation of illegal stations popping up they would enforce the regulations to prevent the import of cheap, spur-riddled illegally imported FM transmitters being sold on a variety of online venues. 47 CFR Section 302a(b) has yet to be successfully enforce, allowing any would-be pirate to gain access to a transmitter with only a few clicks of the mouse. If you eliminate the easy access to illegal transmitters you’ll eventually eliminate those stations.
The other flaw in the regulation is there’s nothing to distinguish between a willful, blatant and intentionally pirate pushing tens to hundreds of watts (usually on FM) to that of a campus or hobby radio enthusiast making an honest attempt to comply with Part 15 regulations who might have inadvertently strayed from the letter of the law. FCC certified Part 15 AM transmitters can cost upwards of $1,000 and should prove the operator’s intent and desire to comply with the regulations – this is in contrast to the pirate operator with a sub-$200 imported splatterbox FM transmitter causing harmful interference across the band.
As a broadcast engineer of more than four decades I understand the importance of ridding the dial of pirates, especially when I witnessed one interfering with a licensed station’s EAS monitoring, but will it take a legal action for a wrongly convicted Part 15 radio hobbyist or school campus-limited station to bring this disparity to light?