R
rapking
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Life has returned to normal at Beasley's WKIS (99.9 Kiss Country)/Miami as local law enforcement officials have shut down a pirate radio station with a 30-foot tower operating at 99.7 FM.
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So many pirate radio stations down here?
Didn't someone say that South Florida is the pirate radio capital of the world?
Didn't someone say that South Florida is the pirate radio capital of the world?
rapking said:
This was reported in the online edition of The Miami Herald today:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/15578065.htm
The maximum sentence for unauthorized interference with a public radio station seems out of whack to me. You could get 5 years in prison and a $5,000 fine. It seems to me that the fine should be much more than that - perhaps even 10 to 20 times that amount - $50,000 to $100,000. I suppose that Beasley could sue the offender for punitive damages.
THE MAJOR
Yeah, but that's just the state law. I believe the FCC could slap a much larger fine on pirates.
There was an argument a while back... back when Florida first put the pirate radio law into effect... that it wasn't the state's responsibility to take care of these things, that it was up to the FCC. I think, though, that the state is able to react faster. The FCC hasn't been an organization to act quickly on such matters, especially in South Florida where there are so many pirates operating. When the feds can't handle it, the state should have every right to come in and do something about it. The fine may seem low, but at least it's something.
There was an argument a while back... back when Florida first put the pirate radio law into effect... that it wasn't the state's responsibility to take care of these things, that it was up to the FCC. I think, though, that the state is able to react faster. The FCC hasn't been an organization to act quickly on such matters, especially in South Florida where there are so many pirates operating. When the feds can't handle it, the state should have every right to come in and do something about it. The fine may seem low, but at least it's something.
They might be trying to be realistic. Someone wasting time playing radio isn't going to have all that much money!
The reason the FCC doesn't act quckly, or for that matter has never acted quick about pirate stations, is because they don't have the man power to go after the people. This is why so few get caught. When the piraters read about it in the paper or see it on the tube, they just keep moving around so the time frame of them getting caught takes longer, or they just shut down for a bit till the hunt cools down.
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PirateRadio
Guest
OldGringo said:
Don't forget Italy, where people can broadcast on all bands (FM, AM, SW, TV) without to much of a problem. Or The Netherlands, where thousands of pirate radio stations are broadcasting every day, full stereo and RDS, at all times with power up to 10 to 20 kw and antenna towers above the 100 metres.
Stuart Elliott said:
That makes sense. Besides the FCC is increasingly busy nowadays monitoring and take punitive actions on profanity that makes it onto the airwaves.
Stuart - Do you think that illegal pirate stations interfering with commercial radio stations is a bigger problem now than it was back when you were deejaying in the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s ? Did any of the stations that you worked at have a problem with interfering 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' ?
THE MAJOR
That makes sense. Besides the FCC is increasingly busy nowadays monitoring and take punitive actions on profanity that makes it onto the airwaves.
Stuart - Do you think that illegal pirate stations interfering with commercial radio stations is a bigger problem now than it was back when you were deejaying in the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s ? Did any of the stations that you worked at have a problem with interfering 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' ?
THE MAJOR
Major-
It definately is a bigger problem now because of technology. Years ago you did have a pirate station here and there, mostly because those people were tech savvy. But..they also had a better chance of being caught, due to the fact there were so few doing it, the FCC had an easier time of locating the pirates. In todays world, on any given day you can go on ebay and buy a transmitter of some form, coupled with the equipment that you can get even in the most basic form & be up and running in no time. Even the novice, if he does his homework, can do it. People are very brazen now. They know the FCC doesn't have the resources to go after everyone & to them (the pirates), it's worth the gamble.
As to the answer of your second question, i'd have to say no. Neither of the 96X's, I-95 nor Y-100 ever had that form of interfearing to that serious of a level. Once in a while you'd get a "blip" that was so minor you didn't pay attention to it. If memory serves correct, when I was at I-95, WSVN-TV was doing some adjusting to their tower and it effected us, but it was fixed PDQ.
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