Gov. Cuomo Signs Pirate Radio Bill

[Barry]

It is now official in New York State that pirate radio operators are subject to being charged with a Class A misdemeanor.
It remains to be seen whether having police officers showing up at illegal stations with the power to make arrests, in place of or in addition to F.C.C. fines, will be a significant deterrent to those operating the stations.
The law apparently also makes it relatively easy to seize the equipment used in these stations. It states, "Any equipment utilized in violation ... may be seized by any police officer upon the arrest of any individual in possession of the same." The regulations also mandate destroying the gear after conviction.

Article in Radio Mazazine: http://radiomagonline.com/currents/news/new-york-outlaws-pirate-radio-0804/

 

[badjef]

It is now official in New York State that pirate radio operators are subject to being charged with a Class A misdemeanor.
It remains to be seen whether having police officers showing up at illegal stations with the power to make arrests, in place of or in addition to F.C.C. fines, will be a significant deterrent to those operating the stations.
The law apparently also makes it relatively easy to seize the equipment used in these stations. It states, "Any equipment utilized in violation ... may be seized by any police officer upon the arrest of any individual in possession of the same." The regulations also mandate destroying the gear after conviction.

Article in Radio Mazazine: http://radiomagonline.com/currents/news/new-york-outlaws-pirate-radio-0804/

Sounds as though Gov. Andy is getting involved in a cross-pollination of Federal and state jurisdictions.

How does he justify the state's role?

Radio stations are federally licensed.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[radioman148]

Does anybody really think this will stop most of these pirates?

 

[MoldaMania182]

This is a good start, except half the NYC pirates are out of Jersey. Doh.

 

[TimeIsTight]

This is a good start, except half the NYC pirates are out of Jersey. Doh.

New Jersey has had a similar law on the books making broadcasting without a license a felony for several years. Violations are punishable with up to 18-months in jail. So far, there have not been any arrests publicized.

Florida has also had such a law on the books for several years, and arrests have been made and covered in the media. The maximum penalty in Florida is five years in jail.

If you check the South Florida Society of Broadcast Engineers website you'll note that the FCC co-operates with local law enforcement in Florida on these matters.

Here is a link to the site with information on the Florida cases, read down to the "Penalty" section for a link to the Florida law.

http://www.sbe53.com/radio.html

Sounds as though Gov. Andy is getting involved in a cross-pollination of Federal and state jurisdictions.

As far as states getting involved in Federal jurisdiction, all these state laws were voted in by state legislatures that are filled with lawyers.

Any dispute over jurisdiction would likely have to be resolved by the US Supreme Court, and the arrested pirate would have to take the case there and have the bucks and time to do that.

As far as confiscating the equipment, the stuff is now so cheap and readily available on e-Bay that that part of the law is almost meaningless in its deterrent impact.

Does anybody really think this will stop most of these pirates?

If a guy is in jail, he can't also be broadcasting to his neighborhood from home.

 

[Steve_Green]

Still cannot see this as an issue that'll be treated lightly by the PBA. If this is a state law, then state police should be the ones designated to Elliot Ness the culprits, not NYPD. And I'm sure the stateys are all primed to go bust headphones.

Not.

Moreover, the laws being broken are federally regulated ones -- CFR. There's too much overlap to consider (such as the crossing-state-lines basic). Fines and hearings will be on an each-case-is-separate basis, as they have to be treated. But throwing in the community laws and the county laws and the state laws and all that overlap just makes the enforcement process that much longer.

The confiscation of equipment is the biggest factor. Forgetting for a moment which jurisdiction has the right to confiscate it, transmitters don't grow on trees.

The gunplay and sirens and bullhorns ('Come out with your earphones over your head!!') will only start in earnest, and to stay, after the big radio corporations make enough of a stink. These newer state rules reek too much of a test run to me, with no real priority lobbying. And the more chickenfooting there is about the rules being clear, the more the danger to those who have to enforce it all.

 

[TimeIsTight]

It should be remembered that law enforcement can arrest and charge on any law being broken local, state or federal.

Local police give tickets on state and federal (interstate) highways.

Local police can arrest illegal aliens, and in NJ the State Attorney General mandated that they do so, even though immigration is a federal responsibility.

My take on the situation in NYC with the pirates is that the NYPD organizes a special squad to work with the FCC, and a joint city-federal task force goes out and takes these pirates down on every charge they can make against them. And there are likely to be many, including running illegal businesses, not paying taxes, illegal immigration, and the usual FCC stuff. Some of these pirates are mixed up with gangs, drugs, and other illegal activities too.

Somebody in authority just has to make the decision to make the enforcement effort, and the people who pushed for the law in the legislature have to push that person in authority to get the job done.

Compared to other criminals these radio pirates are easy to find, and can be rounded up quickly once the decisions are made.

 

[WPHA]

My take on the situation in NYC with the pirates is that the NYPD organizes a special squad to work with the FCC, and a joint city-federal task force goes out and takes these pirates down on every charge they can make against them. And there are likely to be many, including running illegal businesses, not paying taxes, illegal immigration, and the usual FCC stuff. Some of these pirates are mixed up with gangs, drugs, and other illegal activities too.

Compared to other criminals these radio pirates are easy to find, and can be rounded up quickly once the decisions are made.

Yes! And if he's not already busted, get that pirate off 96.7 ASAP!

 

[radioman148]

So tell me what percentage of these pirates will actually get busted?

 

[magicjellybeans]

So tell me what percentage of these pirates will actually get busted?

This is a law put in place just in case someone wants to set up a talk format that disagrees with the main stream media,they want to make sure they can put them in jail.Otherwise youre percentage will be minimal say 3 percent if that.

 

[radioman148]

So tell me what percentage of these pirates will actually get busted?

This is a law put in place just in case someone wants to set up a talk format that disagrees with the main stream media,they want to make sure they can put them in jail.Otherwise youre percentage will be minimal say 3 percent if that.

They certainly don't seem to care much about the music pirates.

 

[jhguthlac]

A state law to enforce federal regulations? Not constitutional. A governor over reaching.

 

[Barry]

A state law to enforce federal regulations? Not constitutional. A governor over reaching.

There is precedent for this in at least one other state. A recent example involving local authorities working together with the F.C.C. in Florida to arrest a pirate station operator and confiscate his equipment is linked below.
Naturally a person arrested by local police for operating an illegal radio station is free to challenge the legality of this in court. If such a case is brought up, it would be interesting to read how it plays out.

Pirate Radio Operator in Florida Arrested by F.C.C. and Local Authorities: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/20...ate-radio-station-federal-agents-pompano-home

 

[flashback]

interesting how the FCC in some places are working with local authorities to fight radio piracy but the federal immigration wont work with the local authorities on immigration in Arizona.

 

[nocomradio]

interesting how the FCC in some places are working with local authorities to fight radio piracy but the federal immigration wont work with the local authorities on immigration in Arizona.

As we all know, piracy of the airwaves is a far-reaching, dangerous crime, that threatens the community as a whole and generally is working, as we speak, to bring down our country into a smoldering heap of rubble. Run for the hills. Immigration is just a pesky little back-burner issue that has no effect on anyone outside of a couple neighborhoods.........


Now, as far as I see it, this was a piece of legislation that was slid under the nose of the governor and he rubber-stamped it like so many other laws without actually reading or for that matter understanding its contents. Sorta like the budget mess in D.C. It was probably propelled by the NAB or other special interest group, because the general public could probably care less about some flea-powered transmitter spewing out whatever the guy controlling it allows. Ask anyone on the street about a pirate radio station or operator and you'd most likely get a blank stare. Public interest? How? Sure, these are lawbreakers, and the law is the law, but I can think of a lot worse things going on in NYC than piracy of the radio spectrum.

This will serve no purpose to deter anyone from breaking the law, as it still has no real teeth, and its hard to prosecute people with false names, forged documents (in the case of illegals) and the ability to skip bail when arrested (if ever). The only thing this will do is prosecute and criminalize the Part 15 guy who runs over the limit or the kid experimenting with the old ham set for fun. Those are the people who are honest enough to take their lumps, pay their fines and have something like this attached to their record. Plus, they are the easy ones to find and scare into believing they will be tossed into federal prison for a long time. The real criminals, as always will just keep doing what they do, while valuable law enforcement resources are burned up chasing ghosts.

 

[TimeIsTight]

its hard to prosecute people with false names, forged documents (in the case of illegals) and the ability to skip bail when arrested (if ever). The only thing this will do is prosecute and criminalize the Part 15 guy who runs over the limit or the kid experimenting with the old ham set for fun.

Something tells me you're not very familiar with the problem of illegal transmitters in urban areas. These are not guys running part-15 type equipment, some of these guys are running regular broadcast transmitters, some apparently in the range of kilowatts based on the signal areas covered.

The signals cause interference and block licensed stations, quite often in the non-commercial end of the FM band where the licensed power is often lower and easier to override. The stations themselves often operate as a regular commercial station with advertising, program directors, satellite fed news from foreign countries, local remote broadcasts, regular DJ schedules etc.

As far as prosecuting people with false names and forged documents, once arrested they aren't going to be released on bail unless they can prove who they are and pony up the money. In the case of illegal aliens, they will stay in custody, possibly for a couple of years, before being deported if they are not here legally.

As for the part-15 guys, "who go over the limit" or "a kid experimenting with an old ham set" if they aren't causing interference in the neighborhood, who is even going to know? And watching the FCC for years, they always seem to send a warning notice first and give the offender the opportunity to stop with no penalty.

Some of these urban pirates are causing interference for thousands of potential listeners of legal stations over a 15-mile radius, and in two states. That is a far cry from anything a part-15 guy could ever dream of doing.

 

[Tom Wells]

Well, I could more than dream of doing it, there's a 100w viking ranger just to the right of me and a 500w Universal
Radio 160 m 19" rack rig off to my left.

I just don't do it becaue one NAL from the FCC in a lifetime is enough.

If us AM pt 15 guys could only get 1 watt and a 10 meter antenna, life would be swell.

But it is stupid to pass state laws when states absolutely have no authority in the matter.

It is pretty clear that most pirates feel they are bringing something to the public that they feel
is wanted but not available otherwise.

Even as FCC policy has attempted to address the underserved part of the community, it is clear that the issue of
the status quo vs the "hoped for" access has not been really addressed, or it would be easier for such
persons or groups to serve their local "community", which in urban environments, is often much more
splintered than can be properly addressed by commercial stations.

It is also NOT about serving "everyone" when environs are so desne as they are especailly in Newark/New York City.

It is about serving that little neighborhood.
If that "neigborood", as can be geographically served by radio, is majorly "into" Gregorian chants,
there should be such a radio station that can serve that specialized commmunity.

 

[WPHA]

If us AM pt 15 guys could only get 1 watt and a 10 meter antenna, life would be swell.

That WOULD be nice! So would 100 milliwatts on FM!

If that "neigborood", as can be geographically served by radio, is majorly "into" Gregorian chants,
there should be such a radio station that can serve that specialized commmunity.

Exactly why there SHOULD be legal 100 milliwatt FM transmissions allowed on a NON-INTERFERING basis. From the right location, and with a decent antenna, 100 milliwatts could provide service to at least a portion of a city! (One housing development or subdivision, certainly!)

 

[nd2023]

Similar legislation in New Jersey has had no impact on the pirate radio scene. 96.7 from West Orange is still on, wiping out K-Love in the most densely populated parts of NJ. So are countless other pirates. It'll take a lot of cooperation between different government agencies to shut them down. But the police would rather stop someone for speeding while they're on the way to a pirate station. Even a domestic dispute would be a higher priority for the police than a pirate station. One of the few cases of police shutting down a Florida pirate was when the pirate was broadcasting information about drugs and prostitutes.

These pirates aren't just serving their neighborhoods, they're going over 15 miles!

I'd like to see neighborhood-level LPFM legalized, which would work even in this area, and community-level LPFM legalized in less populated areas and perhaps county-level LPFM in rural areas. LPFMs can certainly bring more formats to an area (Energy 107.9 in Florida for example).

Last year there supposedly was a mass-raid planned for the Boston pirates. That never happened. Speaking of Boston pirates one of them (Hot 87.7) had enough power to make it to my radio in New Jersey a few times during tropo (during the last tropo to Boston 3 weeks ago, I couldn't get it because that pirate is now running a lower power transmitter)

 

[nocomradio]

Something tells me you're not very familiar with the problem of illegal transmitters in urban areas. These are not guys running part-15 type equipment, some of these guys are running regular broadcast transmitters, some apparently in the range of kilowatts based on the signal areas covered.

Actually, I am quite familiar with that, and if they are running more than a few hundred watts, then someone (read:FCC) isn't doing the taxpayers bidding. Aren't they supposed to be working for the public interest? Given those kind of gross violations, I'd bet someone is on the take or turning a blind eye.

The signals cause interference and block licensed stations

I am sure that does happen and in a tightly packed spectrum such as NYC and the surrounding area if it were such a large problem and the station engineers are aware of it, then why isn't the FCC also aware and looking for these pirates? Seems to me if they are in the Kw range they shouldn't be hard to find. I could do it with a hand-held radio and probably get within a few hundred feet of a transmitter of that power without the expensive training and high pay a government employee demands.

As far as prosecuting people with false names and forged documents, once arrested they aren't going to be released on bail unless they can prove who they are and pony up the money. In the case of illegal aliens, they will stay in custody, possibly for a couple of years, before being deported if they are not here legally

The same people who are running the INS are apparently enforcing the radio spectrum then. Oh wait, they are all the federal goobermint. There have been so many cases of illegals (and others) released on bond only to skip and leave the country, or worse yet, reoffend, that it boggles the mind.