While I lay a lot of this at the sellers feet, I think the FCC needs to directly inform Amazon and eBay, the two leading purveyors of these products, educate them what's allowed and what isn't and affirm they're not going to stock or sell anything beyond these specific limits. 75% of the problem taken care of, right there.
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Nine pirates busted in Boston!
- Thread starter nd2023
- Start date
Sure, that's the marketplace but it's not illegal to own a transmitter requiring licensing but it is to fire it up without a license. With that said, when I've ordered transmitters from companies I needed some verification to buy it which was easy to do (mailing address matched station or something like that although I emailed a CP for one station).
But if eBay and Amazon are shut out of that market, Alibaba, Aliexpress and other Chinese sites will offer you many options in transmitters for AM and FM. Since they are shipped as individual purchases, not a bulk container full, they slide right through customs in the US.
I buy my scanner expendables like rollers and feeder trays from China. Made by same companies that sell them to my scanner brand (Kodak Alaris) but at about 15% of the price.
There was a Caribbean pirate in Hartford, Connecticut for years on 103.3 FM. Very powerful station. Anyway several years back Full Power Radio fired up a translator for WDRC 1360 on 103.3 FM and the pirate station ended up moving to 92.9 FM. I heard one of their program hosts on air complaining that WDRC had no right to take their station.
It's amazing how entitled pirate operators can be. They seem to thing that they are providing a unique service that "Big Radio" has ignored!
Bob got death threats when 101.3 went on the air.
Listeners or station owners/employees? If it was listeners, as wrong as it is, I get them not having a clue of all the legality behind the scene. The average listener has no clue that a station is legit or not, unless it's a small FM Transmitter that someone is using to play their Spotify playlist in their 2005 Toyota Corolla, and was picked up while waiting behind them in the Burger King drive-thru.
That's actually a great point. The government could go after Amazon for selling devices which are not type accepted for us in the U.S. Of course even if Amazon stopped selling this junk, pirates would still find the cheap gear via Alibabba or EBay.
Cold Coffee
Banned
Likely coming next.
This actually is a good counter-point to those of us on the outside of the industry, who make the argument that radio is failing. (Myself included) We look from our own personal interests (specific format preferences), so we ramble on about how radio isn't losing its preference. But obviously there is enough of a buisness where pirates are willing to have illegal broadcasts and risk fines. If radio truly was dying, it would be easier to "pirate" an internet station.
Cold Coffee
Banned
I think these pirate broadcasters are mostly in poor immigrant neighborhoods. These populations may not be well connected to the internet. And, commercial radio couldn't make any money there.
The Massachusetts Broadcasters Association warns pirate hunters that it might be unsafe to go tracking them.
The Massachusetts Broadcasters Association warns pirate hunters that it might be unsafe to go tracking them.
I wouldn't say radio is dying. If you use the pirate measure, there were plenty of much higher-power pirates around here and abroad long before a competition to radio from streaming existed. Pirates are willing to risk fines because they don't think they'll get caught. Their egos are larger than their ability to decipher common sense God gave a goose.
Cold Coffee
Banned
There were very few pirates in the whole USA prior to the late 1900's. Back then. it was some electronics whiz-kid who wanted to play DJ. They were mostly broadcasting from a bedroom in their dad's house.
Today the FCC is finding adults doing this with some kind of agenda.
Today the FCC is finding adults doing this with some kind of agenda.
Heck, I saw adults dressed up as Harry Potter, in robes, carrying wands, and the whole thing, walking around Universal Orlando.
One is illegal, the other is just a freak.
Cold Coffee
Banned
In Boston, New York City, and Miami there are more pirate stations than legal stations. The FM dial would still be crowded if all the licensed stations went off the air.
Cold Coffee
Banned
In the 1970's there were people who were proud to be called freaks. Most of them weren't pirates. Maybe pot smokers though.
MassMusicMan
Banned
The feds crack down on Boston pirates. Meanwhile, Charles Clemons openly ran for Boston City Council years ago, and even received endorsements from sitting officeholders.
Cold Coffee
Banned
Charles in his own words. Q&A With a ‘Radio Pirate’: ‘We’re the Rosa Parks of Radio’.
A pirate in our area has begun runnings ads. I caught a Toyota ad this morning, with a fraction of an ad before it. Why don’t these folks just run an online station, then get friendly with the local newspapers and promote it that way? Of course, that means paying for the privilege of airing music.
Cold Coffee
Banned
I suspect they were pirating a network feed unless it was a local Toyota dealer which is unlikely.
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