The "War on Pirates" in 2008: paper beats rock, scissors

From DIY Media:

I've just finished updating the Enforcement Action Database. The FCC's Enforcement Bureau has reported its field actions through mid-December, and as you can see, given any activity over the balance of the month, it is on target to meet and/or (most likely) beat the record enforcement year of 2007.

What does this mean? It depends on how you look at the data. Sure, the FCC's busting more pirates than ever, but does that really mean it's making a dent in station proliferation? A couple of major conclusions from the year-in-review are striking:

1. Most FCC enforcement is concentrated around geographic "hot spots" around the country. The top two are south Florida (most notably the Miami-Dade metroplex) and New York. If you add New Jersey in with NYC, the density of enforcement actions is about tied. It's not that far of a stretch to equate that with the density of existing pirate radio stations (i.e., they're not going away).

2. Although most of the enforcement occurs in these hot spots, the fact that enforcement takes place essentially nationwide makes the phenomenon of pirate radio a national one. I think it's just much less of a priority for some field offices than others.

3. There's a compelling trend this year in the timing of enforcement actions. Multiple field offices tend to go pirate-hunting around the same time of the month (often on the exact same days). If I had to guess, the FCC's mandate from D.C. is, "spend some time hunting pirates to show that we care," and the agents in the field mark a day or two on their monthly calendars to handle any pending complaints. (For what it's worth, there's no indication that the FCC's 15 month-old online pirate station reporting form is doing much good).

4. Finally, the primary tools of FCC enforcement remain, by and large, quite administrative. Station-visits and threatening-sounding certified letters are the field agents' ammunition of choice. It's worth noting that although the amount of monetary forfeitures has risen to 2006 levels, the FCC's expected recoupment for each enforcement action it takes is paltry; going pirate-hunting is a big money-loser for the agency. Note that the number of arrests and convictions have remained stable - and less than a handful at that. It would seem that those state laws criminalizing pirate radio are doing a whole lot of nothing.

In fact, looking at the raw data from which I compile the majority of my statistics, the Enforcement Bureau's been going after more serious unlicensed broadcasters, like those who potentially jam public-safety, maritime, and land-mobile two-way radio networks. This is a phenomenon that also appears to be on the rise. The FCC's much more quicker to bring the fiscal hammer down on those sorts of people, but they're the ones doing real harm.

The bottom line? 2009 will be a year of opportunity for unlicensed broadcasters. Without some sort of massive infusion of human resources, capital, and political will, the FCC simply doesn't have the strength to shut much of anything down. It's reached its enforcement capacity, and it's being overwhelmed. In that sense, we're winning.

New York Times freelance writer provides no news on Brooklyn microradio

Today's The New York Times has a severely under-reported story about the plethora of microradio activity on the Brooklyn airwaves for the past fifteen years.

Without any sort of news peg (Ditmas Park Blog is taking credit for tipping off the Times), Alex Mindlin quotes folks from WBGO (88.3-FM) and WFUV (90.7-FM), with George Evans, the head engineer of the latter, going so far as advocating the draconian Florida law that allows local police officers who know nothing about Federal broadcasting regulations to arrest so-called pirate radio station personnel. Since the Federal government, and not the states or cities, regulate the broadcast spectrum, this Florida law will surely be thrown out once it is challenged in court.

Mindlin mentions the January 2007 $10,000 fine charged against Elroy Simpson of Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, but fails to mention the Federal Communications Commission's Nov. 2 letter of Notice of Unlicensed Operation to Sean Buckner in Brooklyn for operating on 94.3-FM without a license, or any other recent FCC action.

The FCC is constantly contacting and fining Brooklyn-based microradio stations, and most of the stations remain on the air, operating on the few NYC frequencies that have any breathing room at all between licensed stations. Mindlin correctly mentions the many Haitian-oriented stations, and the several Hasidic operators, and grasps that the Flatbush area is a hotbed of activity. But he fails to mention several prominent hip hop and hipster stations, and fails to address the "why" at all. Mindlin's main news flash: WFUV's web site has received 294 complaints about interference from pirates since August, though they could all be from one person as he doesn't question this number at all.
--Tom Roe

FCC on track to meet/beat enforcement record

From DIYMedia:

As the graph above shows, the agency's Enforcement Bureau is well on pace to meet or exceed last year's record-breaking enforcement action effort. Looking more closely at the data, one can see how FCC field agents are escalating the initial levels of the enforcement protocol much more quickly now (for example, the New York field office has cut the time between visit to warning letter down to as little as eight days).

Nevertheless, the FCC's not keeping such a good record when it comes to excersising actual muscle to shut pirate stations down: the number of Notices of Apparent Liability and actual forfeitures issued appears relatively unchanged from last year, and these actions remain but a small fraction of the Enforcement Bureau's overall enforcement effort. The number of raids/seizures conducted against pirate stations may edge up this year, but this is due to state-level enforcement efforts, most notably in Florida, where unlicensed broadcasting has been criminalized as a felony.

As far as what happens during the last three months of the year, it's anyone's guess: historically-speaking, there's a tertiary spike in enforcement actions against unlicensed radio stations in November, and it will be interesting to see whether this trend continues. Nevertheless, it's safe to say the agency's still a paper tiger, as unlicensed microbroadcast activity continues to blossom, especially in the nation's largest urban areas. However, recent developments, like the Enforcement Bureau's new online pirate complaint form and the possible installation of an anti-pirate attorney general, may change the game, but it's too early to tell by how much.

Latest reports on NYC microradio

Several reports from radio engineers posting to the New York Radio Message Board say that "pirate" radio activity in New York City is busier than ever. In Brooklyn, for instance, there are reports of FM stations on 91.9, 94.3, 95.1, 95.9, 96.5, 96.7, 97.5, 99.1, 99.3, 99.7, 99.9, 100.7, 101.5, 102.3, 103.1, 103.9, 104.7, 105.5, 106.1, 106.3, 107.1, and 107.9.

WHUT, the hip hop station on 91.9-FM evenings between 10 p.m. and midnight, is as strong as ever. A Hasidic pirate is allegedly using the 91.9 frequency (heard as far away as Westchester County) much of the rest of the week, and also airing on 1710-AM. Reportedly a station called "Red Hot Radio" is on 102.3, and it and another station on 95.1 are microcasting from E. 35th St. and Avenue H in Brooklyn.

Across the Hudson River from NYC, in Newark, New Jersey, there are reportedly pirates on 96.5 and 99.9.
--Tom Roe

New NYC-area microcaster reports

One poster at the New York Radio Message Board has located WMIR, a 24/7 unlicensced station operating at 100.9-FM in Suffolk County, New York. The station is playing classic rock (with a web stream if you want to listen and aren't on Long Island). Other reports include a Spanish-language stations on 96.1-FM in Bergen County, and 90.5-FM in Passaic County, both in New Jersey. There's also a report of a reggae-formatted station on Long Island at 101.5-FM, and reports of Carribean stations on 95.1-FM, 101.5-FM, and 104.7-FM in the Bronx and Brooklyn.

FCC action against Brooklyn microcasters and current frequencies in use

By Tom Roe

The New York Radio Guide is reporting the FCC has sent three Brooklyn "pirate" microcasters "Notices of Unlicensed Operation," the first step in the agency's slow enforcement process. "The broadcasters are James Narcisse of 625 Rugby Road in Flatbush, Joseph Maynard of 728 East New York Avenue in Crown Heights, and Vincent Alston of 308 Sterling Street in Crown Heights. The FCC`s efforts notwithstanding, the airwaves in Brooklyn continue to be saturated with the signals of dozens of pirate broadcasters," according to NYRG.

The New York Radio Message Board contains posts reporting dozens of other stations including, "88.1, 89.3, 90.1, 90.5, 90.9 and 94.5...94.3, 95.1, 95.9, 96.7, 97.5, 99.9, 100.7, 101.5, 102.3, 103.1, 103.9, 104.7, 105.5, 106.3, 107.1, and 107.9." The 94.3-FM station is supposedly called "My Radio Live," WHUT 91.9 is the long-runnning powerful hip hop station on evenings, and a Jewish pirate in Canarsie is on 104.9-FM, according to NYRMB posts. Also, Haitian pirates often use 87.9-FM.

"Pirate" transmissions, then and now

By Tom Roe

The "pirate" radio stations picking up Howard Stern's satellite radio show and remicrocasting it on free airwaves, are back in the news again. Both The New York Times and Los Angeles Times are reporting Stern FM transmissions in those cities.

The New York Times Jacques Steinberg reports hearing Stern near 239th Street in the Bronx on 88.1-FM on a car radio. He quotes Russell Skadl, the faculty adviser of a Long Island radio station, WXBA, that operates on very low power on 88.1 out of a high school in Suffolk County, hearing Stern on that frequency on Long Island, quite a distance from the Bronx. The Daily News reported pirates in Brooklyn and New Jersey broadcasting Stern's signal last January, just as his show switched from FM to satellite.

In Los Angeles, the Times there has one person hearing Stern on 88.1 FM where jazz station KKJZ should be, and another on 88.3-FM. They say a local TV station is blaming "Pirate Cat Radio," which has always used 87.9-FM, not those higher frequencies. More likely, it is someone with less of an agenda then the Pirate Cat folk, and more likely some Stern fan with an electronic equipment fetish.

While some pirates pick up satellite feeds now, others have broken over top television feeds. Recently someone YouTubed the infamous November 22, 1987, interruption of Chicago's WGN-TV local newscast. WGN-TV's on-site technicians neutralized the "pirate" transmission of a Max Headroom-like figure spouting dada gibberish by switching to an alternate transmitter, but two hours later the Chicago PBS affiliate WTTW's "Doctor Who" transmission got a similar Headroom visit. Below is the clip from the WGN hijacking. Below that is the CBS News national reporton the incident, also YouTubed.