Ofcom report on illegal broadcasting in UK

By Tom Roe

16 percent of Londoners say they listen to "pirate" radio stations, according to a new report from Ofcom, the Office of Communications in England, the UK's equivalent to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

"In 2006, we undertook 1,085 separate operations against illegal broadcasters, resulting in 63 convictions," Ofcom reports. They guess that the UK has 150 microcasters at any one time, and that listeners tune in for music they can't hear elsewhere.

The report also continues the false canard that pirate broadcasts magically make airplanes fall from the sky. Read the full report here.