> Can anyone on the board help me out with a question i have ?
> What is the worst thing you have heard happen to a person
> with a pirate radio station?? Somone told me the max is like
> a 10,000 fine and up to 5 years in prison is this true??
From the FCC website:
The Communications Act gives the FCC authority to impose sanctions on unlicensed broadcasters, including civil monetary forfeitures, court injunctions, and seizures of the radio equipment. Violators are subject to penalties of up to $11,000 and/or seizure and forfeiture of all radio equipment involved by court order. Unlicensed operators are also subject to criminal fines imposed by the Justice Department of up to $100,000 and/or imprisonment for up to one year, or both, for a first-time offense.
> And does anyone know if the Fcc gives you a break maybe a
> warning or somthing of this sort?
Normally, the first time the FCC visits a pirate operation, if it is a case of someone whose obvious intent is to operate a legal Part 15, they will determine if the equipment being used to transmit can be adjusted to operate within the legal limits, they will advise (and in some cases, assist in adjusting).
If, however, the intent is obviously beyond Part 15, they will usually confiscate equipment and issue a warning.
If they come back a second or third time to any previous installation, expect it to be more than a warning. Several pirate radio station operators have been taken to court over this, such as the case I turned up on the FCC website to find the text I quoted above:
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Compliance/News_Releases/1998/nrci8014.txt>http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Compliance/News_Releases/1998/nrci8014.txt</a>
While that release doesn't specify what fines were levied in that case, you can bet that they didn't go all the way to U.S. District Court just to slap the guy's wrist.
I'm going to move this thread to Community Radio after I answer, as there are many people there who are knowledgeable on the history of pirate operators who have been shut down by the FCC.
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